Muddled Timeline
by TheUltimateWarrior7924
Summary: In the midst of the 4th Great Ninja War, a reanimated Minato Namikaze makes the decision to send a few trustworthy Konoha ninja back in time. Before any war could ever happen and orders them to prevent it from taking place. Time Travel Fic. Violence of all levels. Pairings: NaruHina ObiRin LeeTenten KakaKure others will be announced or voted on later.
1. The Kannabe Bridge Mission

In the midst of the 4th Great Ninja War, a reanimated Minato Namikaze makes the decision to send a few trustworthy Konoha ninja back in time. Before any war could ever happen and orders them to prevent it from taking place. Time Travel Fic. Pairings: NaruHina ObiRin LeeTenten KakaKure others will be announced or voted on later.

 ** _Muddled Timeline_**

 **Chapter 1: The Kannabe Bridge Mission**

Thirteen Year old Kakashi Hatake had just lost his left eye fighting an Iwa ninja with his teammate, Obito Uchiha. The young Uchiha had bandaged his teammate's eye and they were getting ready to storm the base of the Iwa ninjas that had kidnapped their third teammate, Rin Nohara. Just before they made a move, they both felt the distortion of wild chakra in the air, but shrugged it off as shaken nerves. Together they infiltrated that command post of their enemy and worked in sync to save Rin. They succeeded in getting past the Afro headed Rock ninja and began celebrating. As they were untying Rin, the Iwa ninja used a Jutsu to collapse the cavern they were in and rocks were dropping from the ceiling. Kakashi was hit in the head by one, and fell to the ground. Obito saw this and threw Kakashi out of the way before he was hit by anymore of the falling stones. Unfortunately for the happy go lucky Uchiha, a very large stone was bearing down upon him and there was nothing he could do to avoid it. He watched slowly with his newly acquired Sharingan as the rock got closer and closer until it crushed his body.

"Are you alright...Rin...Kakashi...?"

Kakashi's lone eye widened as he gazed upon his friend crushed under the rubble of the deconstructed cavern.

"Obito!"

"Don't...it's okay Kakashi...I don't think I can make it. My right side is totally crushed...I can't feel anything..." Obito said slowly. He then violently coughed up blood.

"Obito...!" Rin cried out as tears fell from her brown eyes. Kakashi dropped to his knees crying.

"Dammit...Dammit! If...If only I had listened to you before and we had come to rescue Rin in the first place! None of this would've happened! So what I'm a Captain? So what if I made Jonin?!" Kakashi shouted as he pounded the floor, blaming himself.

"Oh yeah...I had forgotten..." Obito said as Rin looked at him in desperation hoping that this was part of the Genjutsu.

"I'm the only one...who didn't get you a gift...for when you made Jonin...Kakashi." Obito continued as the other two silently cried.

"I'm giving you...my Sharingan Kakashi...Whatever the village may say...you are...a great Jonin, so please accept it."

"Kakashi come here. I'll start it right away." Rin said with authority. Kakashi looked down in guilty shame.

"I'm about...to die...but I'll become your eye...and see the future for you." Obito finished. Kakashi looked at Obito with new strength in his eye and accepted.

The Rock ninja whipped around as the dome exploded. Kakashi was standing on top of the rubble and has tears streaming down his face.

"Well you're just a kid...What's a ninja crying for? Come on crybaby, let's settle this!" The unnamed Rock ninja shouted. Kakashi opened his left eye to reveal his new Sharingan.

 _"Hmm...this kid is different than before..."_

"Kakashi...take care of...Rin"

"Yeah..."

Kakashi drew the White Fang Blade and quickly leapt into action against the Iwa ninja, slicing at him as the ninja blocked and destroyed Kakashi's weapon. As Kakashi landed, he performed the seals for the Chidori and thrust his lightning filled palm at the enemy ninja.

"Chidori!"

Kakashi tossed the ninja's body on top of the cavern. Rin began to hyperventilate at the appearance of the man's body and not Kakashi.

"Don't panic...Rin." Obito said as she squeezed his hand tighter. Kakashi appeared behind the corpse and she calmed down. Kakashi sensed fifteen Hidden Rock Ninja Shunshined into the area and his eyes widened.

"Come on Rin! Take my hand!" Rin kept her eyes glued on Obito's crushed body.

 **"Earth Style: Earthquake Slam!"** All fifteen Rock ninja shouted as they slammed their palms on the ground and caused the earth to split apart.

"Obito!" Rin shouted. Rin grabbed Kakashi's hand as the two members of Team 7 jumped out of the hole.

 _"Just when Kakashi and I were starting to get along...I couldn't tell Rin I loved her..."_ Obito thought to himself as the rocks began to bury him.

"Obito!" Kakashi called out as he saw the rocks fall on his friend.

They landed on a tree and saw that they were surrounded. Rin gasped when she saw their predicament. Kakashi looked around as well and executed the handseals for the Chidori once again. The chirping of a thousand birds filled the area and blue lightning chakra danced around Kakashi's hand as he unsheathed a Tri-Pronged Kunai.

 _"Thank you Obito. You helped me perfect this technique!"_

"Rin get out of here! I'll deal with this. I'll protect you with my life!"

"Kakashi...! You'll die!"

"Rin! I promised Obito I'd protect you. Obito...he cared about you. He loved you..."

"Then Kakashi! You should know my feelings for you!"

"I-I tried to abandon you...I'm nothing but scum..." Kakashi declared as Rin looked on sadly, the blue light of the Chidori dancing in her face.

"Rin, go!" Kakashi shouted.


	2. Warped

**_Chapter 2: Warped_**

It was nearing the end of the 4th Great Ninja War and Kakashi was side by side with Obito

and the Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze, who also happened to be his sensei and Naruto Uzumaki's father. He watched as Gai took on Madara. Naruto, Sakura, Hinata, Lee, and Tenten also looked on as it seemed all hope was lost.

"Kakashi, Obito and I have a plan. Gather up those in the immediate area." After Kakashi gathered the ninja around him, he spoke up.

"What's your plan Obito, Sensei?"

"We're going to send you all back in time. You all will stop this from happening. It's an S-Rank mission."

"Wait a minute? How will we even have enough chakra for this and how can this even work?" Tenten asked.

"It's simple. I'm going to throw my Tri-Pronged kunai at Obito and he's going to perform the Kamui and teleport my kunai back in time. You guys will get to my kunai by holding more of my special kunai and pumping a continuous stream of chakra into the seal in it, which will not only power the Jutsu, but will register each of you and enable you to teleport back in time. Obito and I will also be powering the Jutsu. You'll need to hold your chakra for ten seconds. If anyone breaks the line, we could all be flung throughout history or just be disintegrated. Is everyone ready?" Minato asked. Everyone nodded as they steeled themselves for what was to come.

Minato threw the Tri-Pronged kunai and Obito immediately used Kamui on it. He and Minato performed a short string of seals and slammed their hands together. Everyone began pumping chakra into their respective kunai and they began to glow a bright yellow.

"10...9...8...7!" Minato counted down.

"6...5...4…" The ninja with low chakra began sweating such as Sakura, Tenten, and Lee.

"3...2...1…!" Minato finished. Everyone flashed a bright yellow and disappeared. They all woke up in a bamboo forest near the Kannabe Bridge.

"Oi, Oi Kakashi-Sensei where are we?!"

"Near the Kannabe Bridge Naruto-Kun. My team had a mission here a month before the war started." Hinata answered. Kakashi looked at the Sun and realized what realized what time it was. This area felt familiar somehow but the silver haired copy ninja couldn't remember why. He looked over and saw Naruto gathering Sage chakra and out of nowhere, Naruto leapt to his feet.

"Kakashi-Sensei! There's three people in trouble a few miles east and there's fifteen ninja closing in on them!" Kakashi's lone eye widened and a realization began to dawn on him.

"Obito you sly dog! This was the best possible place to send us!" Kakashi mused.

"Naruto you idiot! We don't know who these three Ninja are. What if they were meant to get killed and we interfere and it damages the Timeline?! Just go sit down somewhere!" Sakura shouted loudly with her fists clenched, ready to punch Naruto into next week.

"Shush you two! We could be in enemy territory for all we know." Tenten said quietly.

"We are in enemy territory. The territory of the Hidden Stone Village during the 3rd Great Shinobi War."

"Great so we just when from one war back to another." Sakura groused.

"No need to worry Sakura-Chan! I, Rock Lee the most splendid shinobi in Taijutsu besides Gai-Sensei, will protect you!" He shouted before Tenten grabbed his mouth, silencing anymore words.

"Lee-Kun didn't you just hear Kakashi?! We're in a enemy war zone. We have to be quiet." The bowlcut wearing Ninja nodded, signifying his understanding.

"Naruto, take us to those three ninja who are surrounded. We need to rescue them." Kakashi strongly ordered.

"Okay then! Guys we're going to rescue some ninja! Hinata I want you on my right side, Sakura, Tenten in the back widened out, and Lee and Kakashi-Sensei in my left." Naruto spoke. Together they leapt through the trees. As they approached the location, Kakashi stopped them all.

"Now I want you all to follow my lead. Attack on my mark."

"Kakashi-Sensei! One of the ninja is dying! He needs us! Hinata, use your Byakugan to see exactly what's happening." The telltale veins of the Byakugan bulged our on the side of her eyes and around her temples.

"Well… oh my! One of them is pinned under a rock and the other two are about to be attacked by the Hidden Stone ninjas."

"Okay attack now!" Kakashi shouted.

"Rin I promised Obito I'd protect you. Obito...he cared about you. He loved you..."

"Then Kakashi! You should know my feelings for you!"

"I-I tried to abandon you...I'm nothing but scum..." Kakashi declared as Rin looked on sadly, the blue light of the Chidori dancing in her face.

"Rin, go!" Kakashi shouted.

"Just as five Hidden Stone ninja launched themselves at the two members of Team Seven, they were roasted alive by a huge fireball. Young Kakashi and Rin were very confused as another five ninjas ended up dead. Two of them from a Rasengan to the heads, two from Lightning Blades to the chest, and one from a Jyuken strike to the heart. Young Kakashi looked around and saw who was helping him drop down around him. He saw that most of them they were a little bit older than he was. He noted that there was a Hyuuga among them and his Sensei was her as well. The others he had no idea who they were.

"S-Sensei?! How did you…?"

"Sorry I'm not your Sensei, but you're close." Naruto said. Kakashi's vision began to blur from chakra depletion and just as he was fading into unconsciousness, he saw his Sensei, Minato, and someone who looked kind of like his father land nearby.

"Father...is that you…?"

"Where am I…?"

"Oh it seems like you've regained consciousness." Young Kakashi sat up with a start when he heard his Sensei's voice.

"Huh?! Sensei but how?!"

"The Jutsu formula on this kunai serves as a marker when I leap using the Hiraishin no Jutsu." Minato said as he held up on of his signature Tri-Pronged kunai.

"Rin! Where's Rin?!" Young Kakashi said looking around frantically. The golden haired man pointed forward out in the field. She was standing alone as the wind blew leaves around her.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make it in time Kakashi. Rin told me everything. We're not sure if Obito is going to make it."

"What do you mean Sensei? Obito was crushed. I'm pretty sure Rin's medical skills aren't enough to heal Obito on her own and we left him down there."

"Fortunately, some reinforcements showed up. One of them is very much like you Kakashi. I want you to meet him." Young Kakashi just looked at his Sensei in confusion.

"Come on Kakashi. They're in that large earth dome." The Jounin said pointing at the rocky encampment. Young Kakashi walked into the rocky base and looked around. He saw Obito on a large slab of earth as a pink haired girl continuously healed him. She looked over at the teen and smiled.

"Hi Kakashi. I'm Sakura Haruno. It's nice to meet you again. I'd love to talk more, but I'm busy keeping Obito alive. The others are in the next room if you want to meet them."

Kakashi nodded and walked into the next area slowly. As soon as he did, he saw a head of gravity defying silver hair, exactly like his own. Then he saw a mask over the man's mouth. It was then he noticed the man looked exactly like him. When the man noticed him, he turned to fully face him and spoke only one word to Young Kakashi.

"Yo."


	3. Who Are You!

**_Chapter 3: Who Are You?!_**

Young Kakashi didn't know what to say, how to react to the situation, or even what facial expression to have.

"I-I um...who are you?!" Kakashi decided to have a little bit of fun with his younger self and looked at him over a little orange book.

"Who...me? I'm Kakashi Hatake. Or more simply put...I'm you."

"B-but how?! How is this possible?" Young Kakashi asked, stuttering.

"Well it's best if I gather everyone." Kakashi said cryptically.

"Minato-Sensei doesn't even know what's going on yet, and neither does Rin. In fact, could you go and get Minato-Sensei and Rin for me?" The scarecrow ninja asked his past self. The shorter of the two nodded and went outside. Naruto, Who was watching the exchange, approached his Sensei and put a hand on his shoulder.

"So Kakashi-Sensei, what are you gonna tell them?"

"How are you going to tell them?" The Blonde ninja asked.

"I guess I'll tell them the truth….though it might shock them a little." Kakashi said scratching the back of his head.

"A little?" Naruto deadpanned.

"Well...a lot. Anyway, go get Hinata, Lee, and Tenten." Kakashi said.

"The younger me, Minato-Sensei, and Rin will want to hear some answers and meet everyone." He sighed and put a hand on the left side of his head, directly over his Sharingan.

"You're worried about Obito aren't you Sensei?"

"Yeah...I wonder what he'll make of all this, of what happens in the future, and I'm not even sure he'll be a ninja again, let alone make it out of this alive."

"You've just gotta have hope ya know. Look at what happened to Lee. He got his arm and leg totally crushed by Gaara in the Chunin exams. Even Tsunade-Baachan thought Lee should quit as a ninja, but he pulled through and he's with us now. Plus we have Sakura-Chan. She's the best medic we know next to Tsunade-Baachan. He'll pull through."

"Yeah you're right Naruto."

"As Kakashi and Naruto were conversing about the current situation, Young Kakashi was talking to Minato.

"Hey Minato-Sensei, the other me wanted me to gather you and Rin so he could tell you what's going on. He said it would be best if I gathered everyone before he informed us about what's going on."

"Okay I'll be going to the earth tent now. Good luck Kakashi."

"With what Sensei?" Young Kakashi asked, not understanding.

"Rin" Minato said.

Kakashi cursed under his breath. He wasn't sure how to talk to Rin at this point. He tried to harshly abandon her in favor of the mission, got Obito nearly crushed to death, rejected her feelings, and then another version of himself showed up. He slowly walked up to her not even knowing what to say. He finally got within five feet of her and took a few deep breaths.

"Uh...Rin?"

"Yes Kakashi?" Kakashi noticed with lack of energy in her usually joyous voice, and it almost destroyed his resolve, but he continued on.

"The other me wanted me to gather everyone up so he could explain the situation."

"I understand Kakashi." Rin said sadly. Kakashi sighed and began to walk away before Rin spoke up.

"Although I want to know why?" She asked.

"Why what?"

"Why did you choose to abandon me Kakashi? I always knew the mission was important to you, but I thought Obito, Minato-Sensei, and I were more important! Now because of your actions, Obito could...die!" Rin shouted tearfully.

"I-I'm sorry Rin. I knew the mission was important and I knew they'd keep you alive to figure out our plans. I thought we could've made to to the bridge, destroyed it, and came back for you. I'm sorry Rin, I just didn't want to become my father." Kakashi sighed sadly.

"Obito said to me, Those in the Ninja World who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum. I tried to show my skills as a capable Jounin and not become my father, but all I did was show you two that I'm nothing but scum. In fact, I'm worse than scum." Kakashi said in a resigned voice.

Rin looked at him for a moment before smiling slightly.

"So...how are you going to change it?"

"Huh?"

"How are you going to become a splendid ninja once again? Will you just sit and mope, or will you go out and change it?" Rin said encouragingly.

"Well...I guess I have no other choice but to change the circumstances and become an honorable Shinobi once again." Kakashi said with a bit more feeling.

"That's the spirit Kakashi. Now let's go and listen to what the 'other you' has to say." Rin said. They both walked back into the earth tent and saw everyone sitting down around the slab Obito was laying on. Kakashi and Rin looked at his right side and saw that whoever healed him made sure to return his arm and leg nearly back to normal. His face, however, had a few scar marks from the rock that had crushed him and he was missing his left eye. Rin and Young Kakashi started at his left eyelid before Sakura piped up.

"Don't worry you two. I can help cultivate him a new eye when we get back to the village. He'll even have his Sharingan back in that eye." Rin and Young Kakashi nodded, having their unspoken question answered.

"Okay, now that everyone is here, I can tell you what's going on. Actually...I was wondering...Sakura, Rin, is it possible to wake up Obito right now. I think he should hear this."

"Sorry Kakashi-Sensei. I can't really wake him up. There's still heavy damage that's been done to his body that Rin and I haven't finished healing yet. We'd be done by now and he'd be awake, but the rock damaged his chakra network as well. If that was fixed, then he could wake up no problem."

"Actually Kakashi-Sensei, I can help. When I was nearly dead, they Rikudou Sennin appeared in my mindscape and unleashed the Body of the Rikudou Sennin that I, Hashirama Senju, and his son Indra are direct descendants of. I have certain powers that come with the Body of the Rikudou Sennin, including the power to heal bodies and chakra networks instantaneously." Naruto said seriously.

At the revelation, Sakura's face fell and she began muttering things about being made useless by Naruto again. Naruto walked up to Obito and put his right hand over Obito's heart. After a moment, his injuries and chakra network began healing and his breathing steadied. His eyes slowly fluttered open and his eyes fell upon Rin.

"Am I...am I dead? Be-because I s-see an angel. Why have you…taken the form of my um...teammate Rin?"

"Idiot! You're alive." Young Kakashi said.

"And just in time for some really juicy information!" Kakashi chirped, causing Obito to bolt up off the earthen slab he was laying on.

"W-what the hell is going on?! Am I in Hell, am I alive?! Why are there two Kakashis?! What the world is...argh!" Obito shouted before he groaned in pain.

"No Obito, you're alive. We all thought you were done for until…well it's best to let umm...the other Kakashi explain." Rin said as Minato nodded. At the sight of his Sensei, Obito went off.

"Sensei! It was great! I unlocked my Sharingan! Now I can...AHHH! KAKASHI RIN SENSEI! I ONLY HAVE ONE EYE!! I'M BLIND! HELP!! THAT ALSO MEANS MY SHARINGAN IS GONE TOO!! OH NO!! HELP!!!"

Young Kakashi groaned, Minato shook his head with a slight smile, and Rin giggled. She always enjoyed Obito's antics.

"Obito...you're fine. How could you be blind? You have another eye, which means you have another Sharingan to activate. Besides, the girl with the pink hair said she could get you a new eye with Tsunade-Sama's help."

"Oh yeah...heh heh. I guess I uh...almost lost my cool there. Speaking of cool…Rin check this out!" Obito said as he activated his Sharingan, showing her the telltale red eye with two black tomoe.

"I'll be known as...Sharingan no Obito, Copier of a thousand Jutsu!"

"Hmm...good choice but you're too late, or early. I forget how time travel works. Anyway…I have that name. You'll just have to think of a new one." Kakashi said with an eye smile.

"WHAT?!?! How could you have that name?! You don't even have a Sharingan!" Obito shouted at Kakashi.

"Au contraire!" Kakashi said as he lifted his headband to reveal his three tomoe Sharingan. He decided to tease Obito some more.

"Oh yeah...I almost forgot. I also have the Mangekyou Sharingan as well." The silver haired time traveler said as he flipped his Mangekyou on and off like a light switch, causing Obito to grind his teeth.

"Ha ha ha! It's good to see you again Obito. You too Rin, Sensei."

"Kakashi...what do mean 'again'? It sounds like you haven't seen any of us in years. What happened?" Kakashi's joyous expression turned somber and he sighed.

"I guess you'll want to hear it from the beginning."

"Doton: Doryuheki no Jutsu!" (Earth Style: Mud Wall!) Kakashi said as he slammed his hand into the ground to make a Earth bench long enough for nine people to sit on.

"All of you sit down...it's important that everyone hears this. Afterwards we'll do introductions and we'll plan out our identities so that nobody suspects a thing."


	4. Storyteller

**Hey everyone! I'd like to thank everyone who left a review, favorited, or followed my story. It's greatly appreciated. I've got an active poll for an OC I'm planning on putting in the story regarding his Bloodline Limit. There are six choices; The Sharingan, Being the Nanabi Jinkchuuriki, A New Doujutsu, Scorch Style, Wood Style, or Crystal Style. You can pick multiple. So get out there and Vote Vote Vote! Expect a Chapter for New Years Eve.**

 **Stay Frosty Bromigos**

 _ **Chapter 4: Storyteller**_

Everybody went to sit down on the Earthen bench Kakashi had made a few moments ago. They all eagerly waited for Kakashi to begin so they could have some answers. Team Minato wanted to know what was going on, Naruto and Sakura wanted to hear about Kakashi's past, and the remaining members of Team Gai and Hinata wanted to know what happened to Kakashi's team. He cleared his throat and began his tale.

"Okay...let's begin. Please save all questions until the end." Kakashi joked, eliciting a short chuckle from everyone.

"This Little Meeting wasn't supposed to happen. Obito wasn't supposed to be saved. I was never quite sure what happened after I attacked those Rock ninja with the Chidori. I woke up, much like you did, from chakra exhaustion, laying right next to Sensei. Only there was no Obito with us. It was too late for Sensei to get him, so we continued on with the mission. We destroyed the bridge and headed home to mourn Obito, thinking he was dead. I'm not sure how, but you were alive long enough for Madara Uchiha to come find you and take you back to his underground hideout to fix you. He gave you a new arm made from a cultivation of the First Hokage's DNA and trained you there, but never let you leave." Kakashi took a deep breath and calmed his nerves before continuing on with his tale.

"After I'm guessing a year, Rin and I were on another mission without Sensei and it went sour. The other two Jounin and the other Chunin were killed and...they captured Rin and sealed the Sanbi no Kame into her with the intention to send her back to Konoha and have the Sanbi wreak havoc and destroy Konoha...but they failed. I rescued Rin but they sent thirty Kirigakure Anbu after us and we were eventually forced to fight. I charged up my Chidori and told Rin to run. But instead...she knew what Kiri was planning and she didn't want to let that happen...so she jumped in front of my Chidori as I was attacking an enemy. M-my h-hand went through her h-h-heart and all she said was my name as she had d-died in my arms." Kakashi wiped a few tears from his lone eye and looked at Young Kakashi's downcast expression, everyone else's shocked faces, and at Obito's enraged expression.

Both Young Kakashi and Obito both grabbed their heads in pain as their Mangekyou Sharingan flared to life. They screamed out for a few moments as new nerves began forming to make the Mangekyou Sharingan permanent. Sakura began to use an anesthetic Jutsu so they wouldn't feel the pain of their new shared Mangekyou. They stopped gripping their heads in pain and sat up, but with depressed looks. Their Mangekyou Sharingan active.

"Kakashi-Sensei, both of their Mangekyou Sharingan activated! Could it be from the fact that they heard about Aron's death in the past and they felt like they had killed her all over again?"

"It's possible Sakura, but we'll never know for sure." The Copy Ninja said before clearing his throat and continuing the story.

"Obito 'somehow escaped' when Madara left to take care of some business. In reality, he was calling the shots with the Kiri ninja. At the same time, he had an associate tell Obito that Rin and I were in danger. His associate made sure he came only just in time to see me killing Rin, which drove Obito over the edge and caused him to kill all of the Kiri Anbu with his new Mangekyou Sharingan technique, Kamui which lets the user become intangible or create a portal to his very own pocket dimension, and the First Hokage's Mokuton Jutsu (Wood Style). That was Madara's plan all along; he wanted full control over Obito and that's what he got. Obito couldn't live in a world without Rin, or his true best friend, who he thought was a murderer. He made sure Obito would do anything to go back to the way it was before we were in the Third Great Shinobi War, So Madara came up with a plan to reflect his Sharingan off of the surface of the moon and put everyone in an a Genjutsu called the Infinite Tsukuyomi no Jutsu, which is unbreakable and made you see the world you wanted to see and live in, so that way there would be no wars and only peace. They collected seven out of the nine Tailed Beasts and stole some chakra from the Hachibi no Burutako and the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Over the course of twenty years and declared war on the Shinobi World. They used the Second Hokage's Reanimation Jutsu to resurrect tens of thousands of ninja, including legends like the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Various Kages, and even the previous Jinchuuriki." The old Team 7's eyes widened in shock, fear, surprise, and peril.

"The Five Kages gathered together to face this threat and created the Great Shinobi Alliance to fight in the war. There were rough battles and many died. Orochimaru showed up on the scene with the Four Hokages, all reanimated, to fight."

"W-e only have three Hokages Kakashi. W-who is the Yondaime Hokage? It's obviously not me…" Obito asked in a disappointed tone of voice for more reasons than one.

Kakashi sighed heavily. He really didn't like doing this, but if he doesn't, then the 4th Great Shinobi War still has a chance of happening.

"Not on my watch it won't!" Kakashi thought to himself.

"The Yondaime Hokage was you Minato-Sensei."

"I see…" The older Namikaze said.

"After the Hokages arrived, things started to look up, until Obito got the Juubi no Ki sealed into him and then forcibly ripped out so Madara could seal it inside his own body to gain the power of the Rikudou Sennin. Obito was eventually persuaded by Naruto here, not to continue being manipulated by Madara, by appealing to teenage Obito. He began slaughtering everyone and Gai had opened the Hachimon and gone into the Shimon to fight Madara. That was when you decided to send us back. However, Obito chose the time we would be sent back to. Any questions?"

As soon as Kakashi said that, every hand in the room shot up. He called on Minato first.

"Kakashi, How did I die? We all heard what happened to the others."

"You died sealing the Kyuubi no Kitsune into your son Naruto, who is sitting right there."

"Does that mean Kushina and I got married? Wait what happened to Kushina?! Did she live?"

"I'm sorry Sensei, but you and Kushina died protecting Naruto from the Kyuubi. It got out well...because Madara sent Obito to unseal it from Kushina and destroy Konoha. Obito was defeated and had to retreat."

"Naruto? Son...I'm sorry for not being there for you. If I had been a better Hokage you would've had a mother and father."

"Don't blame yourself Dad. It was that snake Madara. He manipulated a lot of Ninja into following him and ruined a lot of lives. So don't be a downer, look to the future dattebayo, er or past. Besides, having Kurama sealed within me made me work even harder for what I wanted. I'm glad to have him." Naruto said with confidence, successfully raising the spirits of his father.

"I have a question Kakashi. How did Orochimaru learn how to use the Edo Tensei?" Rin asked.

"After he defected. He stole many forbidden Jutsu to learn and use against Konoha."

"Why did he defect?" Obito asked next.

"For various reasons; Because he wasn't considered to be the Yondaime Hokage and Minato and Jiraiya were. Jiraiya naturally turned it down and Minato got the Hat. Another reason was because he was caught by the Sandaime Hokage performing experiments on fellow Konoha Ninja and civilians."

Kakashi sighed heavily, the War, chakra depletion, and bad memories took their toll on the Scarecrow Ninja.

"Look guys. We have to get up early to destroy the Kannabe Bridge and I'm drained. You'll all be there when Minato-Sensei and I give the report to the Sandaime so your questions will be answered there. For now, we should get some much needed rest. I'll take first watch with Naruto. Everyone needs to be awake by 0400 hours. We'll do introductions and then we leave for the bridge at 0500 hours."


	5. Introductions and Bridge Deconstructions

Chapter 5: Introductions and Bridge Deconstructions

All the Konoha Ninja were already awake when the alarm clock blared to life. The clock was subject to Naruto's and Obito's fist smashing it at the same time. They both groaned and rubbed the sleep from their eyes. Obito sat up and reached for his pack. He pulled out a ration bar and munched on the chewy brown rectangle, hating its tastelessness and silently cursing it to the lowest levels of Hell. Rin opened her pack and gave everyone a ration bar to eat. After everyone had checked their supplies and finished their ration bars, they exited their Earthy encampment. They all looked at the sky and saw that the sun hadn't even risen yet. Kakashi walked in front of everyone and began speaking.

"Okay it's time for the introductions. Let's start with you Sensei. For everyone else it's your name, likes, dislikes, and dreams for the future." Kakashi explained.

"I'm Minato Namikaze. I like training, my fiancé Kushina, Konoha, and Ramen. I dislike when others are treating people poorly for no reason, Ninja who kill when it's not necessary, and Jiraiya's peeping. Hobbies are cooking, and naming new jutsus. My dreams for the future are to become the Yondaime Hokage, get married to Kushina, and start a family."

Obito raised his hand quickly, but pulled it back in pain. Kakashi saw this and called on the young Uchiha.

"Hey I'm Obito Uchiha! I like my teammates, my new Sharingan, and helping people. I dislike Iwa ninja, being tricked, and Tomatoes. My hobbies are helping people out, throwing shuriken, and reading. My dreams for the future are to become an elite Jounin, Be The Hokage, and have a Family."

"Hi my name is Rin Nohara. I like Medical Jutsus, helping others, and my teammates. I dislike jerks, lobsters, and bullies. Hobbies, hmm, I like reading and making medical kitsMy dream is to become a great Medical Ninja." Everyone already knew Kakashi so they skipped ahead to the time travelers.

"Yosh! I am Rock Lee, pupil of the best Taijutsu user, Might Gai! I like Taijutsu, exercise, and training! I dislike those who dislike Taijutsu, and those who seek to dampen my wonderous Flames of Youth! My hobbies are training, collecting decorative scrolls, and perfecting my 'Nice Guy Pose'. My dream is to master the Hachimon, win the heart of my Cherry Blossom Sakura, and become a Splendid Shinobi through the use of Taijutsu only!"

"I'm Sakura Haruno. I like Medical Jutsu, my shishou Tsunade, and udon soup. I dislike people who are too loud, put down Medical Ninjas, and perverts! My hobbies are organizing things and making homemade chakra pills. My dream is to continue my shishou's work to find a cure for every known disease and toxin and catch up to my teammates."

I'm Tenten Higurashi! I love creating and using weapons, finding new and inventive ways to use my weapons in combat, sushi, and proving people wrong. I dislike when Gai-Sensei and Lee ramble on too long about the flames of youth, people who think being a from a civilian clan means I can't be a great ninja, and people who think that I'm not girly enough! Hobbies for me are throwing weapons blindfolded, running the Higurashi weapons shop, and testing new wares. My dream is to prove that I can be a great ninja."

"My name is Hinata Hyuga. My likes are flower pressing, Ramen, and cooking. My dislikes are the Caged Bird Seal, people who put others down, Kumo Ninja, and Cinnamon Rolls. My hobbies include cooking, flower pressing, and sewing. My dreams for the future are to destroy the Caged Bird Seal, reunite the Hyuga Clan, be an elite ninja, and marry someone special to me."

"The name is Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze! I like Ramen, training, my precious people, Konoha, and gardening. I don't like unnecessary violence, people who judge others before they know them, and the three minutes it takes to cook Ramen. My awesome hobbies are gardening, training, and eating ramen. My goal is to become the Hokage so I can protect my precious people and the village, and start my own family."

"I'm Kakashi Hatake. I like Jiraiya's Icha Icha books, BBQ, and my mask. I don't like people who abandon their comrades, who are not willing to train hard, and those who can't appreciate the Icha Icha series. My hobbies are reading and challenging Gai to pointless competitions. My goal is to protect my comrades and own every copy of the Icha Icha Series." Everyone from the future deadpanned at what Kakashi said, while the four from this time period just looked awkwardly at the Copy Ninja as the joke was lost on them since Jiraiya's world famous books had not been made yet.

"Okay then." Minato started. "Since we've all got the basic information on each other, let's go and destroy the Kannabe Bridge."

"Minato-San, there is a group of Iwa and Kumo Ninja near the bridge. I see around eight ninja."

"No problem, we'll take them head on."

They arrived with no problems, but were confronted by the group of Iwa and Kumo Ninja. They were here to investigate the seventeen Iwa ninja who they hadn't heard from since yesterday.

"Hey guys," Naruto whispered to the group. "They aren't so strong. There are only two chakra signatures that are Jounin Level. The rest are Low to Average Chuunin. We can take them out quickly and bring down this bridge if we work in tandem. Obito, Rin, Kakashi…"

Both Kakashis looked at Naruto expectantly and the blonde just sweatdropped at the lack of understanding.

"Er...Obito, Rin, and Young Kakashi, go place the Explosive Tags, everyone else attack the enemy and fight to kill."

Everyone nodded and continued walking towards their opponents.

"Well looky what we have here boys! Some slayable Konoha Ninja, Three kunoichi, oh and would ya look at that, a Hyuuga!" The Kumo Jounin sneered.

"We just hit the jackpot senpai! Blood, booty, and money! Maybe even a promotion or something like that. I'm getting all worked up just thinking about it!"

The Iwa Jounin stepped forward and licked her lips.

"I see the two blondies are looking very tasty, especially the younger one!"

 **Elsewhere In Konoha**

"I don't know why, but I feel like another annoying woman is hitting on my Minato-kun. Impossible, he's on a mission with his team. Oh well, I'll ask him later. In the meantime, I'll go and wreck one of the training grounds." The Red Death of Konoha said.

 **Kannabe Bridge**

Okay let's see...who should we match up against?" Sakura asked.

"I'll take on the Iwa Jounin!" Hinata said in a cold, Hyuuga-like voice that would've made Hiashi proud.

 _"Nobody flirts with Naruto-kun in front of me!" The bluenette thought angrily._

"Okay then…Hokage, I mean Minato, you take the Kumo Jounin, everyone else just attack who squares up with you. You three make your move as soon as we jump into action." Sakura advised.

"Hai!" Came everyone's collective reply.

"Come on you Konoha Cowards, FIGHT US AND DIE!" One of the Kumo Chuunin shouted.

Naruto attacked first, opting to battle the shouting Kumo Shinobi. He feinted a punch and it worked. A kick smashed into the Chuunin's ribs. The Kumo male recovered and gathered chakra.

 **"Raiton: Jibash—!"**

The man couldn't finish his Jutsu as Naruto rammed a Rasengan in his chest. The man flew through a few trees before busting his skull on a large stone.

Minato quickly threw a kunai at an Iwa Jounin . The Jounin dodged and began laughing.

"You'll have to do bet—urk!" He said as Minato teleported behind him and imbedded a kunai into his neck.

Lee and Tenten leapt into action against two Iwa Chuunin. Tenten threw a few shuriken, forcing them to dodge right into Lee.

 **"Konoha Daisenpu!"** (Severe Leaf Hurricanes!)

Lee's strength crushed a few bones and Tenten finished them off with some well placed kunai to their heads.

"YOSH! THE SPRINGTIME OF OUR YOUTH BURNS BRIGHTLY TENTEN!"

"Too loud Lee! We're still in a war zone."

"Oops! If I am too loud I will do one thousand push-ups when we get back to Konoha!"

Hinata was standing a few feet from the Iwa Jounin. The Jounin sprung into action and attacked quickly, but was no match for Hinata's Gentle Step technique. Hinata quickly disabled the woman's arm and threw a roundhouse kick straight into her face, breaking her nose.

"You little Hyuuga BITCH! I'll rip those eyes outta your head and sell you to Kumo as breeding stock for that!"

 **"Doton: Ishi No Yari!"** (Earth Style: Stone Spears!)

She slammed her hand on the ground and earth spears jutted up from the ground, aiming to kill the young Hyuuga. Hinata dodged them and closed in on the Iwa Kunoichi. She slammed a palm into her chest, sending her chakra directly into the woman's heart, ending her life.

"Nobody talks like that to me!" Hinata thought angrily.

Kakashi nonchalantly walked in the direction of his opposition, leaking Killer Intent. Suddenly, he stopped and began rummaging through his kunai pouch. He fished out his little orange book looked at the cover.

"C-come on! Fight m-me you coward!"

"That's okay. I don't want to kill a little girl like you." Kakashi said as he opened his book.

"Little girl?! I'll kill you!"

Kakashi stood in the same place as the Iwa Kunoichi rushed him with a kunai. Kakashi simply and easily wrestled the kunai away from the young Chuunin and drove the weapon handle deep into the teen's stomach. She collapsed desperately trying to hold her stomach to no avail. The crimson blood stained her white Kumo vest red.

"Rule number one in being in a battle; don't let your opponent goad you into such a straightforward attack." The Scarecrow said, not even looking at the dying girl.

Obito, Rin, and Young Kakashi we're almost finished setting the Explosive Tags when an Iwa Chuunin landed in front of them. Young Kakashi engaged the man in Taijutsu and landed a few hard blows on him before jumping back.

 **"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"** (Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!)

Run and Kakashi threw a volley of kunai and shuriken on either side of the Chuunin, forcing him to choose his method of death. In the end, he chose Obito's Fireball Jutsu and was roasted alive. They planted the last few Exploding Notes and returned to their team and Sensei.

"It's ready to blow Sensei!" Obito said happily. Minato nodded and they detonated the Explosive Tags, destroying the Kannabe Bridge. They watched as the debris fell into the chasm below.

"Hmmm...we wouldn't want the enemy to be privy to our location or that anyone was here. Dispose of the bodies by pushing them into the chasm below." Kakashi said. Soon, all eight bodies were rolled over the cliff face where the bridge used to be.

"Mission complete! Let's go back home." Naruto said with elation.


	6. Chapter 6: Konoha's Old Monkey

**First off, I'm really sorry about not updating sooner. I've been very busy this year and I didn't really get tons of time to write this story. Secondly, the poll is still active for you guys to vote on a Kekkei Genkai for an OC who will come later in the story. It's between Scortch Style, Sharingan, the Nanabi Jinkchuuriki, and Wood Style. Vote on it or leave a review with your opinion. Now onto the story. Third off, I'm really glad that the Eagles beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl, 41-33. It was a good game.**

 ** _Chapter 6: Konoha's Old Monkey_**

The village gates came into view after a day of paced jogging. It was around 2:30 when the mixed team arrived near the gates. Naruto stopped everyone and until now nobody had realized their mistake.

"Oi oi, what are we going to tell Old Man Hokage? There's more people on this mission than the number assigned and the gate guards are definitely going to notice that something's way off-dattebayo."

"Uh oh! Naruto is right. This isn't good, we need a way to sneak into the village and we need one fast."

After a few minutes of thinking it through, Hinata spoke up.

"Uhm, we could disguise ourselves as enemy ninja and just walk through the front gate. Team Minato could say that they captured ninja from Kumo and Iwa and need to interrogate them. Minato can just say that he's taking us to the Hokage Tower for interrogations and reporting to Hokage-Sama. When we get there, we'll drop our disguises and tell him what's going on."

"Wow that's a really good plan Hinata-Chan! You're really awesome! How'd you ever come up with that plan?! You're a genius!" He said hugging the Hyuuga girl. She turned beet red and was on the verge of passing out. Kakashi noticed this and separated the two ninja.

"Okay, everyone. I've got a few damaged Iwa vests and one or two Kumo vests. I've got six headbands, two Kumo and four Iwa. I've got the bodies of eight ninja inside this scroll so you can take their clothes. All of the time travelers put on a vest, a headband, and the appropriate uniform." Minato ordered.

Naruto grabbed the Kumo vest and a white Kumo headband. He took off his orange jacket and Konoha headband and placed it in a sealing scroll along with everyone else's belongings. He quickly donned a Kumo Jounin's outfit and stepped back.

Tenten and Lee both grabbed an Iwa uniform. Before Lee could put it on, Tenten brandished a kunai and cut Lee's sleeves off.

"It's so they don't see you wearing the same clothes as Gai-Sensei." She said slapping a hand over his mouth before he could make a ruckus.

Hinata also grabbed the kumo vest and black headband. She timidly removed her clothes. Rin, Sakura, and even Tenten were jealous of Hinata's impressive bust that had grown to nearly rival Tsunade of the Sannin's own legendary bust. She quickly put on the Kumo Jounin's uniform and hid her face from everyone.

Sakura and Kakashi grabbed an Iwa uniform as well and Kakashi turned around to place bandages over his mouth without anyone else seeing his face. He also put some bandages over his eye so nobody could see his Sharingan and tied his hair backwards into a ponytail.

"We need to hide Hinata's eyes and Naruto's whisker marks. This'll all be for nothing if someone sees her Byakugan or his whisker marks."

"Here I've got some war paint for his whisker marks." Rin said.

"And I've got some blue contact lenses for Hinata." Kakashi said.

Naruto's whisker marks were successfully hidden with red War paint and Hinata's Byakugan was concealed with blue contact lenses.

"Okay...I think we're ready to continue. Is everyone ready?" Minato asked. After receiving several nods from everyone, he tied up Naruto's hands to Hinata's and handed the rope to Rin. Sakura's hands were bound to Kakashi's and held by the younger Kakashi.

"Wow this is just like that scene on page 152 of Icha Icha: Violence." He said as he eye smiled to his younger self.

"Do I even wanna know what happens in that scene?" Sakura asked rhetorically as Lee and Tenten were being bound and escorted by Obito. Minato gave the marching order and they began marching with all the disguised time travelers holding up a somber or defeated expression. They walked up to the gates and the guards were up and had their weapons drawn at the sight of the false Kumo and Iwa ninja.

"Stop right there!"

"Team Minato reporting back from the Kannabe Bridge Destruction Mission. We took these prisoners. They may be of some value to us, since they have some information we want." Minato said neutrally. Naruto decided to play it up a bit and make it look convincing.

"Screw you Konoha Dog! I'll never talk! Torture from a bunch of tree hugging ninja like you won't break me!"

"Well you're in for a treat you Kumo scum! Same goes for the Iwa trash next to you." The guard said, firing a glance at Lee and Tenten. "Prepare for the most excruciating pain you've ever felt, and then imagine something ten times worse than that, over a period of a few weeks. Enjoy!"

Even though she knew that she wasn't going to be tortured, the look on the gate guard's face and the malice dripping from his voice left Sakura shaking in fear. The pure hate for this man's enemy burned in his eyes and bled into his voice.

"Move along trash!" Young Kakashi said sharply, shoving his faux prisoners. "Let's take these guys in Sensei. They're starting to stink up the front gate."

"Agreed. Let's get moving. The Hokage is waiting for us." Minato said, stone faced. The group moved on and changed their clothes in a back alley covered by a powerful Genjutsu placed by Kakashi. The scarecrow ninja henged into a silver mouse with a mask and one Sharingan eye. Hinata, Rin, Tenten, and Sakura 'awed' collectively. The Kakashi-mouse tilted its head in confusion. He scampered up the wall and hopped into Young Kakashi's weapons pouch. They eventually made it to the Hokage Tower and slipped into the waiting room without drawing too much attention to themselves.

"Okay I'll walk in first and begin the conversation by giving the mission report. Then you can give him the real scoop and we'll go from there." Minato instructed.

The Sandaime Hokage of Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was taking a break from paperwork to read novel titled, 'The Mercenaries of Yandr.' Written by a man from the Expansion West, far past the Elemental Nations. He was currently waiting on Team 7, or Team Minato to return from their mission and give him a report, but decided to partake in some literature until his successor arrived. He was reading a particularly raunchy scene when he heard knocking on his door. He placed a bookmark on his page and placed the grey book off to the side.

"ENTER!" The Sandaime Hokage called out.

"Ah Minato! Looks like your team succeeded. How did it feel to lead your first war effort as a Jounin Kakashi-kun?"

"I-I...well Sandaime-Sama, it was an eye opener," Kakashi started, fumbling with his words. "I wasn't a very good leader and I need to develop more of a sense of teamwork when it comes to Obito and Rin." The silver haired teen finally said.

The aged Hokage stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Hmm...that's interesting. Speaking of eye opening, what happened to your eye Obito-kun? Same question to you Kakashi. Your headband is draped over your eye."

"I think I should explain the situation from here Hokage-Sama. Apparently, Rin was captured by some Iwa Ninja and Kakashi opted to leave her to the enemy and Obito objected. He decided to go on his own and rescue Rin himself. Kakashi realized his mistake and went back as well. In a scuffle, Kakashi lost his eye and Obito awakened his Sharingan. They used teamwork to defeat a Jounin Level Iwa ninja and succeeded in rescuing Rin, but during their escape, a falling rock struck Kakashi in the head. Obito threw him to safety at the cost of his own body. Half of his body was crushed under a massive rock. He thought it was the end of the line, so he gave Kakashi his left Sharingan." Minato informed the old Hokage. Young Kakashi lifted his headband to show the village leader his newly acquired, two tomoe Sharingan and Obito activated his Sharingan as well.

"Wait a moment. If he was crushed, why does he look in good spirits? Shouldn't he be dead? I know that Rin-chan here is a good medic, but bodily regeneration is not in her range of skills yet."

I'm getting to that. Kakashi then killed the Iwa ninja that caused the collapse of the cavern they were in. I showed up just in time as they were surrounded by enemy ninja." Minato took a deep breath and looked the elder Sarutobi dead in the eye. "I need you to keep an open mind while I tell you this. Everything I'm going to tell you happened and I have proof."

"Go on." Hiruzen said with interest.

"I didn't fight all fifteen ninja myself, a group of Konoha Chuunin and Jounin took most of them out and I cleared what was left."

"What's so hard to believe about that? Anyone can run through someone else's battle."

"It's not the fact that they helped, but their identities. They're...from the future! They travelled nineteen years into the past to stop the 4th Great Shinobi World War."

"MINATO!! A woman's voice from the far corner of the room shouted.

"Kushina, I said ALL Anbu, not just them." The Third Hokage said sternly.

"Sorry Hokage-Sama. It won't happen again."

"But seriously Minato, Time Travel? Where is your evidence?"

Minato opened the door and five of the six time travelers walked through the door. They removed their disguises and dispelled their henges.

"This is my son and Jiraiya's Apprentice, Naruto Uzumaki and his teammates and peers. Hinata Hyuuga, daughter of Hiashi and Hitomi Hyuuga, Rock Lee, Gai's student, Tenten Higurashi, Hiro's daughter, and Sakura Haruno, Tsunade's Apprentice."

"I don't know Minato…the future? Come on now. These must be fanatics from Konoha or rogue ninjas wishing to join our village."

"I had a feeling you might say that. Kakashi do it."

Young Kakashi opened his weapons pouch and a mouse crawled out and scurried onto Sarutobi's desk. When it caught the old Hokage's gaze, it jumped to the ground and poofed back into Kakashi, causing Kushina and Hiruzen's eyes to jump out of their heads.

"Yo, it's good to see you Sandaime-Sama. You too Kushina-obasan." The Copy Ninja said casually.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!?!" Hiruzen screamed.

"It's just like I told you, they're from the future."

"So that's my son! Oh Naruto! You're so handsome, just like your father! I bet you have a flock of girls after you!"

"Nope just one." Tenten whispered, nudging Sakura, who had to stifle a laugh.

"Now, it's time to talk about what happens in the future. Kakashi said.

Three hours later, the Third Hokage, Obito, Young Kakashi, Rin, Minato, and Kushina were in shock.

"My Kami…all that happened…? It's good that you told me and even better that I had a Kage Bunshin write all this down in a Hokage accessible scroll only. It is unfortunate about Orochimaru's defection and killing of me, as well as my wife's and Jiraiya's deaths. I guess we should make some plans for this." Hiruzen said.

 **In Naruto's/Kushina's Mindscape**

 **"What's all the racket out there?"** Yang Kurama asked to Nobody in particular, but Yin Kurama answered.

 **"It's Kushina's kit and his friends. They're speaking with the Old Monkey Hokage. Something about making plans for the future?"**

 **"Okay, well I'm going to tell them a few side effects of this Time Travel Jutsu."** Yang Kurama said to his Yin counterpart.

 **Hokage's Office**

"Sorry to interrupt, but Kurama just told me about some side effects the Time Travel Jutsu will have on us."

After Naruto finished his sentence, Kakashi suddenly grabbed his head and writhed in pain for a moment before poofing away, leaving a tattered Jounin Jacket, a pair of blue pants, a blue shirt and mask with his specialized headband resting on top of the pile of clothes and weapons. Everyone looked on in horror at the pile of clothes that was once Kakashi, wondering why disintegrated.

"Well...there's one of them now…" Naruto said matter-of-factly. "Here's another one."

Young Kakashi began thrashing about, and he gripped his head in pain. He screamed at the top of his lungs and blood began dripping from his nose. Young Kakashi snatched his Konoha forehead protector from his head and dropped it. His chakra levels spiked and his eyes turned bloodshot. He fell to his knees and his Sharingan spun rapidly as veins appeared on his head, eyes, and around his temples. The silver haired teen's Sharingan spun into the Mangekyou Sharingan. Young Kakashi let loose another blood curdling scream as he fell to the floor and passed out." Everyone snapped out of their stupor and Sakura and Hinata diagnosed him. Hinata used her Byakugan to look at his chakra network and Sakura began healing his head and eyes.

"What the hell happened to both Kakashi's?!" Obito screamed in anger, his Mangekyou Sharingan flaring to life on instinct alone.

"My Kami! His chakra network is growing rapidly!"

"Kyuubi says that when you come into contact with your past self, your older body will reintroduce itself to your younger body and you'll be in the younger body, but have all your memories, techniques, chakra, and feelings that you did when you time travelled. He says the reintroduction is painful since your younger body technically can't handle all the pain of reintroduction but it only lasts for about two minutes. He also says it happens around 24 to 36 hours after you come into contact with your past self. He'll be awake soon." Naruto explained.

A few minutes later, Kakashi sat up groaning and holding his head.

"Ugh what in the world happened? I proofed away into a white void and I was a ghost for about two minutes and…what's wrong with my voice?" He asked. He noticed he was barely taller than Obito and he looked at himself.

"WHY AM I 13 YEARS OLD AGAIN?!" Kakashi shouted.

"It's a side effect from the Time Traveling Jutsu. You'll be perfectly fine after some rest Kakashi-Sensei." Naruto said with certainty. The Sandaime cleared his throat and got everyone's attention.

"Okay now that…whatever that was is through, you five are going to need new names. Any ideas?"

"I'll be…Haruto Namikaze, younger brother of Minato Namikaze!"

"I'll be Yoshi Sato, an orphan taken in by the Tori family, who was tragically killed in enemy territory."

"I'll be Hikari Hyuuga, a main branch member who was exiled and taken in by Kushina Uzumaki!"

"I'll be Rio Inoue, a civilian ninja." Sakura from her chair.

"And I'll be Miyuki Nohara Rin's cousin!" Tenten said.

"Okay then. Naruto, we'll need to get rid of those whiskers, Sakura the pink hair has to be dyed and the Hundred Healings Mark hidden, Lee no bowl cut or green spandex, Hinata blue hair has to go as well. And we need to get you guys some Konoha flak jackets."

Ten minutes later, Hiruzen had copied documents and many other official forms signed and stamped with different dates all on them. Naruto was given the rank of Jounin and was assigned a team of ninja to teach. His whisker marks were under an advanced Genjutsu. He wore the green flak jacket, a black short sleeved shirt with orange lines around the bottom of the sleeves with black pants, grey Anbu arm plates, and tall ninja sandals. His black Konoha forehead protector was around his head.

Hinata was given the rank of Special Jounin, and helped Naruto with his team. Her hair is as black instead of its normal blue. She wore a half open flak jacket with flowing blue sleeves, a blue skirt, tall heeled ninja sandals, and her blue Konoha forehead protector was around her neck.

Lee was given the rank of Chuunin. He was wearing brown sleeveless spandex, and the green flak jacket with blue ninja sandals, his hair was grown out using Jutsu and put into a braid. His red headband was on his arm.

Tenten was given the rank of Chuunin and academy to teach the final year students. She styled her hair in two pigtails instead of the panda buns, she wore the standard Chuunin uniform, with a set of scrolls on her legs and back. Her blue headband was on her head.

Sakura was given the rank of Chuunin as well and was sent to help at the hospital. She wore a green flak jacket, light grey short pants, a short sleeved mesh armor shirt, heeled sandals, and a red headband was on her large forehead hiding the Hundred Healings Mark.

"Okay. You can all go home and rest, but tomorrow report back here for your assignments. The girls will live with Rin, Naruto and Hinata will live with Minato and Kushina, and Lee will live with Kakashi. Any questions?" Everyone shook their heads.

"Then you're all dismissed." Everyone turned and left the Hokage's Office. As soon as everyone departed, he dropped the technique and opened a secret compartment in his desk.

 _"Kami I need a drink, or maybe five!"_ The Aged Hokage thought to himself before pouring up a sizeable cup of sake and downing it.


	7. Chapter 7: Arrangements and Meetings

**Hey guys! It's TheUltimateWarrior7924 coming back with a new chapter on my birthday! Yes I'm alive! I'm sorry for not uploading. I got sick and then I had to deal with several issues. Then my WiFi went KAPUT! for a few weeks...again!**

 **My poll for the OCs bloodline is still active, but the character's bloodline WILL be decided by the next chapter. I'm still, and always will be, accepting feedback, ideas, and now I'll be accepting OCs from you guys. Just drop your idea in a Review, or a PM if you want to keep your OC from prying eyes. I'll be putting up a new poll soon about the status of the Chuunin Exams in this generation.**

 **For now though... just enjoy this chapter.**

 ** _Chapter 7: Arrangements and New Meetings_**

Everyone began heading to the Konoha Ranking Registry to receive their Green Konoha Flak Jackets. Naruto was bouncing up and down in excitement.

"Oh man, I just can't wait until I get that awesome Konoha Flak jacket! I've been dying to get one of these ever since I came back from the training trip! And it's a Jounin one to boot! I'm super excited, dattebayo! This also means I'm going to be a Jounin Sensei, just like you Kakashi-Sensei!"

"Naruto, at this point in time, I'm not a Jounin Sensei. I'm a new Jounin, only a few weeks old. I'm nobody's sensei as of right now. In the future I'll be your Jounin Sensei for sure. But for now, I'm just Kakashi. But I get why you're excited. The prospect of teaching someone younger than yourself something new and watching them grow as a Shinobi and a person. It's very exciting."

"Exactly what you said Kakashi! Does this still mean you're going to join the Anbu?" Naruto asked. "Won't it change the timeline if you don't?"

"I suppose it would. I guess I'll join the Anbu after Sensei becomes Hokage. But I'm still going to enjoy the time that Kami blessed me with." Kakashi said as he put his hands on the shoulders of Rin and Obito.

"Just remember that Hinata is helping you lead this team. Don't be a glory hog and don't undermine her, you moron!" Sakura said shaking her fist at the golden blonde haired teen.

"Yeah of course! I'd never leave a friend behind!" Naruto proclaimed loudly, leaving the Hyūga Heiress blushing wildly, before dropping his voice to a whisper. "That reminds me. We need to figure out a way to keep Sasuke in the village and keep Itachi from leaving too."

"There's a lot of things that we need to prevent. We need to go about this in a systematic order so that we aren't scrambling and worrying about things that haven't happened or might not even occur." Kakashi said.

The four other ninja present just listened to the time travelers talk, trying to soak up as much information as possible. They arrived at the Registry and handed the clerk the slips that Hiruzen gave them. They were checked for verification purposes by placing them under a chakra disruptor. They were approved and the clerk went and got them the Konoha flak jackets.

"All right then. Here you go! One Jounin Flak jacket for Haruto Namikaze, a Special Jounin Flak jacket for Hikari Hyuuga, and three Chuunin Flak jackets for Yoshi Ito, Rio Inoue, and Myuki Nohara. I wish all five of you luck with your new promotions! Hi Minato! Hi Kushina-chan! Out and about today?" The clerk asked.

"Yep, my team and I just returned from a mission and I met up with my team and we decided to head back together. We met up with my little brother's friends along the way."

"You have a little brother? Wow I never knew!"

"I didn't know for a good while, until he became a Genin a few years ago and participated in the Chuunin exam finals in his first year. I guess my parents had him right before they died. But he's been living with me ever since. His name is Haruto Namikaze!"

"Wow! That's so cool! He looks just like you. Is he as strong as you?"

"I'm a bit stronger." Minato said as Naruto pouted. "But he could definitely give me a real workout.

"I see, well Haruto are you going to register for a three man Genin team?"

The shorter blonde flashed a toothy grin and clenched his fist. "Actually, I just got a three man Genin team assigned to me by Jiji-erm Hokage-Sama! I can't wait to meet them! Hikari is also going to be helping me with the Genin team. I know we'll do great together!"

"Uhm r-right! T-together...we'll do wonderfully. Haruto is a great leader!" The time traveling Hyuuga said, bolstering her hero's statement.

"I can't wait to see you guys in action with your new Genin team! Good luck!"

"Thanks!" The Blonde time traveler said with zeal.

"I think we should all get ourselves settled in to get used to our new time traveling roommates." Minato said quietly to the group. Everyone nodded, but Naruto, Obito, and Kushina's stomachs voiced their objections to that course of action rather loudly. Everyone else just sweatdropped as they started at the three.

"What? We're just hungry!" The three ninja said in unison.

"Okay then. Let's get some food first, then follow through with Minato-Sensei's plan. What does everyone want to eat?" Rin asked.

"ICHIRAKU RAMEN!!" Naruto, Kushina, Obito, and Minato shouted at the top of their lungs, garnering the attention of everyone in the immediate area.

"So four votes for Ichiraku Ramen. Any other suggestions?" Rin asked.

"How about Yakiniku Q?" Lee said. Kakashi voted for it as well and so did Sakura and Rin.

"Looks like Hinata is the tiebreaker here! So where are we eating Hinata? Yakiniku Q or Ichiraku Ramen?"

"I'd like to go to Ichiraku Ramen please!" She said with energy.

"YATTA!" Naruto shouted, jumping sky high. Hinata just giggled at his free exuberance, then sighed dreamily while smiling at the young hero. Kushina took notice of this and smiled to herself, knowing her son's Jinchuriki status and his apparent lack of loved ones didn't affect his relationships too much.

'At least he's got a beautiful young woman waiting for him. I'll have to have a talk with her tonight about her feelings towards Naruto.' Kushina thought to herself.

"Well we really should break out our wallets, Kushina. If our son eats anything like well do, we'll be regretting it if we don't get my team team to chip in something." Minato said chuckling.

"Yep! The Uzumaki can put it back better than everyone else, when it comes to ramen!"

"The Namikaze aren't too far behind on that." Minato added.

"Oh hush you! That's just because I'm rubbing off on you. The Akimichi are great eaters, but we Uzumaki are unopposed when it comes to ramen. BBQ is another story." The red haired Uzumaki said, playfully smacking her fiancée's shoulder.

The group arrived at Ichiraku Ramen to find Teuchi and his wife, Ayase, tending to their one year old child, Ayame.

"HEY OLD MAN! I'M BACK! REV UP THOSE FRYERS! I'M STARVING AND I BROUGHT FRIENDS!" Kushina shouted, alerting the Ichirakus to their presence.

"Hello Kushina-chan. I see you've brought Minato-kun, Kakashi-kun, Rin-chan, and my favorite Uchiha, Obito-kun! Is there a celebration?" Ayase asked.

"Yes there is! Minato-kun's little brother Haruto, finally made it to Jounin and got a Genin team! His other friends got promotions as well. Rin's older cousin, Myuki. She's from a smaller village in the Land of Fire."

"Wow! That's impressive! Congratulations Haruto! I hope you can lead your Genin squad to success in these tough times."

"That'll be easy as pie with Hikari helping out! She'll be a great teacher and is a strong kunochi-dattebayo!" Naruto said with conviction.

"H-Haruto-kun! You're making me blush!" Hinata whispered to the shorter Namikaze male.

"So who are your friends Haruto?" Teuchi and Ayase asked simultaneously.

"Oh these guys and I go way back to the academy. That's Yoshi. He uses only Taijutsu attacks and he's an orphan since his parents died after he became a Genin. He loves to exercise.

"Nice to meet you!" Lee half shouted.

"This is my old teammate Rio. She loves pink. And she's from a civilian home and is a really good medic ninja."

"Hi it's good to meet you." Sakura greeted.

"Likewise!" Teuchi said with a smile.

"This is Rin's cousin Myuki. She was living in a nearby village in the Land of Fire before she moved here a year and a half ago. She loves to use throwing weapons and weapons in general since her dad was a blacksmith."

"Hiya, it's nice to meet the owner of the stand my cousin Rin talks about so much about."

"And it's nice to meet you too Myuki!" Ayase spoke.

"And this is Hikari! She's a great ninja and she'll be helping me with my new Genin team. She was a Hyuuga but her dad took her away from the Hyuuga clan before she was branded. She loves flower pressing and can eat a ton of ramen!"

"It's an honor to meet you. Teuchi and Ayase. I hope we can be great friends!"

"If you can eat as much ramen as Haruto says, of course we'll be great friends!" Teuchi joked before Ayase elbowed him lightly.

"Oops heh heh, bad joke!" Teuchi said sheepishly.

"He's just being funny, sorry about that Hikari-chan."

"It's okay, Ayase. How old is your daughter? What's her name?"

"Oh nice if you to ask! This is our little bundle of joy, Ayame!"

"She's a beautiful baby girl Ayase! May I hold her?"

"Of course you can!" As soon as Hinata got the okay, she began entertaining the young Ayame before passing her to Naruto, who upon seeing him, began to clap her hands wildly and laugh. She got to Sakura and immediately cried, pulling at Sakura's dyed brown hair and swatting her in the face with her small hands. She was passed to Obito, who began spinning his Sharingan repeatedly to amuse the future ramen chef. Rin laughed at Obito's parlor trick and Kakashi, Lee, and Tenten passed on holding the baby. After a few minutes, Ayame was handed back to Teuchi and Ayase. Ayase put Ayame in her crib at the back of the store and began to feed the child.

"Well now that we've got our introductions out of the way, I say we start ordering and start celebrating!" Obito shouted jovially.

"Agreed! So what'll ya have to eat?"

"Get ready for a big order Teuchi! I'll have four bowls of beef and one bowl of pork ramen!" Obito said. "What about you guys?"

"I'll start with four beef, two chicken, one miso, and two shrimp!" Kushina said.

"Same for me." Minato added.

"For me it'll be five bowls of miso three bowls of beef, three chicken, two shrimp, and one order of gyoza!" Naruto recited.

"I'll have two bowls of beef." Kakashi said.

"I'll eat two bowls of chicken and some gyoza!" Lee shouted.

"One bowl of beef and an order of gyoza please." Tenten said.

I'll have a bowl of pork ramen for now." Rin said politely.

"Just bowl of vegetable ramen for me." Sakura said.

"And for you Hikari?" Teuchi asked the Hyuuga kunoichi.

"I'll haven six miso bowls, five chicken, and three beef bowls please."

Everyone started at Hinata for a minute and she blushed a deep red under their gaze.

"I-I'm just hungry…"

"Oo-kay then." Teuchi said a few moments after the silence. "So I've got you all down for 21 bowls of beef, 14 bowls of chicken, 13 bowls of miso, 6 bowls of shrimp, 2 bowls of pork, 1 bowl of vegetable, and three orders of gyoza. That's 59 bowls of ramen! Looks like I'll have to start right away!"

"Before you do, add on a bowl of pork ramen for me. Thank you." Someone said as they walked through the curtain and into the ramen stand.

"H-Hokage-Sama! It's an honor!"

"It's nice to see you Teuchi. Call me Hiruzen. I see you finally built your ramen stand and it's doing quite well. Sorry I couldn't attend the Tenth Year Grand Opening Anniversary. Hokage Business, the war, looking for a successor, and all of the paperwork has kept me backed up for months."

"It's okay Hiruzen. I don't mind so much as long as you drop in every once and a while to eat here."

"Well it seems like you've got quite the order to fill today."

"Of course! AYASE!! WE'VE GOT MOUTHS TO FEED! I'M GONNA NEED YOUR HELP! 62 BOWLS AND THREE GYOZA IS THE ORDER! HOKAGE-SAMA IS HERE AS WELL!" Teuchi shouted to his wife.

"I'M BREAKING OUT SOME MORE NOODLES AND THE BIGGER POTS!" Ayase shouted back.

"Oh you can charge it to my bank account. It's my treat to all of you. Eat as much as you want." Hiruzen said. "I also have a stipend for each of you five. Buy ninja tools, clothes, and anything else you can't think of. Oh and Haruto, Hikari, you'll be meeting your team tomorrow morning at 9:30 at Training Ground 7. Don't be late." He said removing five checks from his robes and handing them to each of the time travelers. The five thanked him for his kindness and quickly began a conversation.

Ten minutes later, the food was served and everyone enjoyed the soon to be legendary taste of Ichiraku Ramen. A ramen eating contest was sparked between Naruto, Obito, Minato, Hinata, Kushina, and Lee. Naruto stacked up 33 bowls, Hinata ate 31, bowls, Obito tapped out at 17 bowls, Lee passed out at 15 bowls, Minato stopped at 26, and Kushina chowed down on 30 bowls. Everyone began to go their own separate ways. Naruto and Hinata followed Minato and Kushina to the Namikaze household and they were each given their own rooms. They unloaded their ninja tools and went out shopping.

"So where should we go to get clothes and weapons? I don't think the Higurashi weapons shop exists yet."

"Yeah neither do I. I guess we could go downtown and look for a good shop. Maybe browse a few shops before we buy anything."

"Okay that makes sense. Let's go!" Naruto said as he grabbed Hinata's hand and sprinted downtown with a blushing Hinata in tow.

They made it to the downtown area after ten minutes of running and Naruto spotted something familiar.

"No way…! Is that…?" Naruto asked, stunned.

"I didn't think it w-would be around yet…" Hinata said equally surprised.

Directly across the street was the Higurashi weapons shop. It stood with two floors instead of the three that they were used to.

"I guess Tenten's Grandfather runs this shop. Well anyway, let's go in. I hope they sell clothes in this time period."

They entered the shop and they were greeted by what looked like an exact copy of Tenten, but with black hair. She wore the standard Chuunin flak jacket with a pair of red pants, small grey ninja sandals, a grey short sleeved shirt, and a grey headband. Her hair was in the same panda bun style Tenten wore and her eyes were a honey brown.

"Yo! Welcome to the Higurashi Weapons Shop! We now sell ninja clothes, so enjoy the good stuff we've got before it's gone! I'm Marumaru! If you two need anything, I'll be over here with Hanshiro! He works here too!" Marumaru shouted.

"Okay no problem."

"Oh. It looks like…Miyuki and Rio are already here." Hinata said as they walked up to the two.

"Hey Hin-Hikari, hey Haruto! I didn't think we'd see you here!"

"Same here!" Naruto said before dropping his voice to a whisper. "Is that your mom, or something? She looks almost exactly like you." Naruto asked.

"Yeah, her name is Marumaru. Dad said she was a loudmouth when they were younger. He wasn't kidding. She's louder than Gai and Lee!"

"No kidding." Naruto groaned as he scratched the back of his head. "Well, I'm going to ask Hanshiro about some of the clothes and about a specialty weapon.

"Ooh Naruto, you've got to let me help you pick a weapon!" Tenten said, nearly shouting.

"Okay, no problem." Naruto said. "You'll be fine with Rio, right Hikari?"

"Umm o-of course Haruto-kun. I'll be fine. Go and pick your weapon. I can't wait to see what you pick." The violet haired kunoichi said.

"Okay then. I'll see ya later Hikari, you too Rio!" Naruto said as he walked towards Hanshiro with Tenten.

"Hey hey, you two see anything you like?" Hanshiro asked.

Hanshiro was a tall man around Minato's age with a small goatee and a bear like frame. He wore a dark blue tunic with an unzipped Jounin jacket over it, and a pair of black pants and blue ninja sandals. His ninja headband was in a bandana style on his head. Around his legs and waist were numerous weapon scroll carrying untold amounts of sharp and blunt instruments alike.

"Uh well I was kinda looking to get a specialty weapon, but I'm not sure which one."

"Well let me take a look at your frame!" Hanshiro said, analyzing the teen's build intently for several moments while he muttered to himself. He finally stopped his analysis of the blonde teen and cleared his throat.

"Well I can tell that you'd be great with a katana or a wakizashi. I recommend the katana for you though."

"Okay then a katana it is then!"

"Great! What's your Elemental Affinity?"

"Oh it's Wind."

"Well you're in luck my friend. I've got just the blade for you!" The brawny man bellowed as he ran to the storeroom yo retrieve the weapon. He presented the sword to the young Namikaze. The sheath was a blizzard white color with an orange line down the middle. Naruto unsheathed the Blade. He didn't know too much about swords yet, but he knew enough to understand that this sword was created with magnificent craftsmanship. The width of the sword was 1.7 inches, instead of the standard 1.3 that Konoha was known for. There the sword also lacked the curvature of a standard katana. The blade shone a blindingly brilliant silver and had some ancient kanji etched into the blade. The hilt was a metallic gold color and the handle featured a gust of wind being blown outwards. It was consisted of a dark blue and black checkered pattern with an orange string tied to the end of it.

"Woah it's magnificent! What's the name of this sword?"

"It's name is Fujin; Windbreaker. It was foraged by a good friend named Gari Uzumaki and it was a gift to my grandfather. But for some reason, only those with extremely potent wind chakra can wield it. My family has average chakra and most of us are have a water affinity. I don't think Kushina would mind too much, since you're Minato's little brother. She'll want to test you though."

"Okay that's great! I'll take it! How much?"

Oh it's free. Just promise you'll take good care of it." Hanshiro said. Naruto nodded and strapped the katana to his back. "Anyway, good luck with your new weapon."

"Do you think you could help me out with some clothes? I just need some pajamas, training gear and however many kunai, shuriken, explosive tags, and other assorted ninja tools this stipend will purchase."

Hanshiro took a look at the slip of paper and chortled.

"Oh ho ho, boy! This'll get you plenty. Any specific type of bed clothes or training gear?"

"No, just whatever's the least expensive. Something basic is fine with me."

"Okay then. I'll gather your wares. Sit tight."

While Hanshiro gathered the materials, Sakura and Tenten began interrogating Hinata after filling their order with Marumaru.

"So what's your plan?" Tenten asked.

"Um...plan…? What do you mean?"

"Your plan to get with the Number One Most Unpredictable Knucklehead Ninja!"

"Come on Hikari, you're on the same team as him now, you've got to have some kind of plan?"

She sighed in defeat. "No...I d-don't have a plan to make N-Haruto-kun like me...I'm completely clueless. I wish Kurenai-Sensei was here."

"Well Kurenai was on the same team as Asuma, so she'd know exactly what to do. You could try and remember what she did to rope up Asuma, or you can listen to us." Sakura said slyly.

"I guess. But nothing that involves deceiving Haruto-kun!"

"Does seduction or trying to make him jealous count as deceit?" Sakura asked.

"O-of course it does! Besides, I don't think I could seduce him anyway. I'm not that confident." Hinata said sadly.

"What? Why not? You look great Hinata. You don't even wear makeup and there were plenty of villagers and ninja alike who thought so." Sakura said encouragingly.

"Yeah!" Tenten added. "It's not my thing, but I bet if you applied a bit of makeup, Naruto would fall like a domino and be all over you in a heartbeat."

"You r-really think so?"

"Of course we do! You've got this! So any ideas?" The two girls asked.

"Well…I do have this one idea…"

"What kind of idea is it?" Naruto said appearing behind the three girls.

"GAH! NARUTO!! Don't scare me like that!"

"Who?" Naruto said innocently. Sakura growled and was about to attempt to cave Naruto's skull in with her super strength, but Tenten piped up.

"Sakura, you said Naruto, you've got to be more careful! We didn't get new names for nothing!" Sakura nodded her head sheepishly. At that moment, Lee came into other store and greeted his colleagues.

"Hello my friends! I see you are here to pick up weapons and wares as well!"

"Hey Yoshi, how is it living with Kakashi-sensei?"

"It is fairly enjoyable. He lacks the yot haul exuberance of Gai-sensei, but I can manage." Lee saiid. Before crying anime style tears. "What's tough to manage is the no green spandex rule and my new hairstyle. It's terrible!"

Everyone sweat dropped at his childish behavior and finished up their purchases. The five teens parted ways and went home. On the way, Hinata decided to spark up a bit of conversation.

"So Naruto-kun, what kind of weapon did you get?"

"Check it out! It's a special blade called Fūjin. It's not like a regular katana. There's no curve and it's a bit wider than most katanas. It's also made of chakra metal. Hanshiro said only a person with potent wind chakra can use it. That's me! That's why I'm awesome!" He said unsheathing the weapon. Hinata stares at the blade in awe.

"Wow! This blade…it's very impressive! Who are you going to ask to train you?"

"Well um…Hanshiro said that once my mom learned about the sword, she'd want to train me in the art of kenjutsu."

"That's great! You'll be trained by your mother. My father used to say that the Uzumaki Clan was known for their quick tempers, their unrivaled fuinjutsu prowess, their ramen addiction, and their amazing sword skills. I doubt your mother is any different. I saw a katana on her back when she was in her Anbu uniform."

"Yeah you're right! You're a genius Hinata!" He said as he hugged the Hyuuga girl. She turned a bright red and began to stammer out a form of thanks. He was about to continue, but his ears picked up some yelling. He thought nothing of it until he heard a kunai being deflected.

"Hey Hinata. I think someone's in trouble! Can you use your Byakugan to scan for them and see what's going on?"

"Of course Naruto-kun."

 **"Byakugan!"** The Hyuuga heiress called out. The telltale veins of the Hyuugas famed doujutsu bulged from her eyes and the sides of her head. She only needed a moment to find the combatants.

"There are three boys and two girls fighting another boy. They all seem to be Genin from their movement speed and age and I don't think they're training."

"I see…I hate bullies!" The blonde growled in rage, his eyes flashing red for just a moment. Hinata guided Naruto to the area where the Genin were fighting. The two hid on a high branch and watched briefly.

"Ugh! Just back off! What the hell is your problem?!" The bullied boy shouted.

"You don't belong here. You're just an annoying foreigner! You and your family have no place in Konoha and you've got no business being a ninja! Especially you being from Suna!" One of the boys said. One of the girls stepped up and pointed a finger at him.

"You and your freaky Bloodline! Did you know my father, uncle, and grandfather were killed by Suna shinobi in the Second Ninja War? My mother had to retire from being a ninja because she was crippled by a Suna shinobi! Your village is despicable! We should kill you! But we'll just cripple you and say it was a training accident!"

"But that wasn't me! I'm not a Suna shinobi! I'm not even from Suna, just my mother! I'm from a border town in the Land of Wind! Guys come on! I never killed anyone!" They all surrounded him and drew two kunai each. The Suna transplant knew if he didn't fight back or get help, his ninja career would end before it began. The two newly minted Jounin were about to intervene, when Chuunin with black hair dropped down from a nearby tree.

"What's going on here?!"

"We're just training with Kido. We're trying to teach him some lessons before he meets his Genin team and Jounin Sensei tomorrow."

"I see. Then allow me to help." The unnamed Chuunin said. He slipped into a battle stance and started forming hand seals.

"Hinata, go get the Uchiha Police Force. I'll deal with these guys." Naruto said.

 **"Ninpou: Meisai Gakure no Jutsu!"** (Ninja Art: Hiding Camouflage Technique) The Chuunin had vanished from the sight and began laughing. He had thrown his voice, making it come from seemingly every direction. Kido was punched in the face then kicked in the stomach. He clutched his stomach but was kicked into a tree.

 **"Ninpou: Shuriken Goshin no Jutsu!"** (Ninja Art: Body Shuriken Technique) A Guam Shuriken was thrown and it suddenly pooped into a massive fifteen foot Shuriken. Kido jumped out of the way but a hail of Kunai and Shuriken was coming his way. He unsheathed the wakizashi on his back and blocked all of the Shuriken. In his inexperience, he failed to notice the explosive tag tied to the handle of one of the kunai. The resulting explosion threw him hard, causing him to slam through a small tree and dislocate his wrist.

"Auuugh!" He screamed in pain. He tried to pull himself up, but was stomped into the ground by one of his classmates who was watching with glee.

"How's that feel outsider?!"

 **"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"** (Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu) Kido was about dodge, but there were chakra strings around his legs, halting his movements. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see the flaming death ball.

"Uh oh! This is really going to hurt!"

Before the fireball could touch him, he was yanked out of the way. He looked up at his savior and smiled.

"You're the Yellow Flash!"

"Ugh! No I'm not. I'm his little brother. I'll save the introductions for later."

 **"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"** (Shadow Clone Technique) Naruto's clone stayed next to the injured Genin as per its mental orders. The new Jounin quickly knocked the Genin unconscious and used his sensor abilities to root out the Chuunin. One chakra enhanced punch was all it took to put the Chuunin out of commission. At that moment, Hinata arrived with three members of the Uchiha Police Force.

"These traitors were attempting to cripple a Genin for being from a foreign land. Take them away."

"Of course. They'll be going straight to Hokage-Sama for judgement!" The Uchiha scooped the preparators up and disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Naruto stuck out his hand.

"Haruto Namikaze. What's your name?"

"Kido Kagayaki of the Kagayaki Clan in the Land of Wind."

"I've never heard of that clan."

"Well we live in a small town outside of Suna. We are trained in our bloodline and in basic ninja techniques, but we don't fight. We used to during the Warring Clans Era and the First Great Ninja War, but afterwards, we had no more desire to fight and only wanted peace. We settled down outside of Suna near an oasis and lived peaceful lives. We encourage the same to our clansmen, but if they wish to leave, they may do so freely. My mother had me out of wedlock and knew I'd be just like my dad. So she took me to Konoha to live here and become a ninja. I've been here for 3 years, but it's been really rough for me. I only have a few friends. I'm meeting with my Genin Team tomorrow morning."

"Well let's get you to the hospital and get that wrist healed so you can train with your team tomorrow. I'm Hikari Hyuuga by the way. It's n-nice to meet you Kido-kun."

"Nice to meet you too!" Kido said.

"Haruto-kun, I'll meet you at home. Can you tell Kushina that I'll be a bit late for dinner." Hikari said.

"Will do. See ya later!"

Naruto turned and walked home. When he arrived it was nightfall.

"Tadaima!" (I'm home!) Naruto said jovially as he stepped through the front door.

"Hello Sochi! (son) How was your shopping trip?" Kushina asked.

"It was great! I even got this sword for free. Hanshiro said it was crafted by Genki Uzumaki and it was called Fūjin. It's for powerful Fuuton users with potent chakra. He told me that you would want to train me."

"Of course! I was planning on getting you a sword soon anyway. I know she's a Hyuuga, but I was going to get Hinata a weapon too. Wait a minute…where is she? Dinner is almost ready." The red headed woman asked in confusion.

"Oh right! She said that she would be a bit late for dinner, because she's escorting Kido to the hospital and then home."

"Okay, but who is Kido?"

"Oh he's an up and coming Genin that we found being attacked by other Genin and then a Chuunin because he's from a small clan from the Land of Wind called the Kagayaki Clan. We rescued him from being crippled by those bigots."

"What does the Kagayaki Clan specialize in? Or do they have a bloodline?"

"I don't know…he didn't tell me." The blonde said. The door opened and Hinata walked in.

"Tadaima."

"Hey Hinata. You made it just in time for dinner! So what are we having?"

"A beef stew hotpot!" Kushina chirped.


	8. Chapter 8: Genin Assignments

**_Chapter 8: Genin Assignments_**

 **Hello Party People! I think I've finally figured out a rhythm for my update time. It's usually about 3 weeks to a month. I'm sorry that I'm a slow writer. I need to get a laptop that actually works properly. Anyway...my poll for the Chuunin Exams in this time period is still up. If you guys could vote on that, I'd be super grateful. Either vote via poll, review, or PM. I've figured out what I want Kido's Bloodline to be. If you want an OC to be one of the Jounin Sensei, just let me know. If you like the story, please leave a review so I have more drive to write. If you don't like it, let me know so I can improve. For now, enjoy the chapter and May the 4th be with you!**

 ** _Chapter 8: Genin Assignments_**

Naruto awoke the next morning with an audible yawn. He didn't notice his room was much different from his apartment, since he wasn't an early morning person. The Uzumaki scion tiredly walked out of the room and towards the bathroom, failing to see the light under the door. Naruto walked right in and opened the door, coming face to face with a wet Hinata, clad only in a towel, grasping for a face towel hanging on the back of the door. Naruto and Hinata's eyes locked for a few seconds until they had realized that she was dressed. She wanted to scream, but instead she fainted from sheer embarrassment. Naruto caught here before she fell and carried her to her room. He created a Kage Bunshin that wrote her a note about what happened and went to go wash up while she recovered. He changed out of his bed clothes and jumped in the shower, cold water waking him up fully. He quickly got clean and dried off. He checked the hallway to make sure nobody was there. Once he was in the clear, he sprinted down the hallway and into his room. He grabbed a pair of toad print boxer shorts, his green flak jacket, a black short sleeved shirt with orange lines around the bottom of the sleeves, black pants, grey Anbu arm plates, and tall ninja sandals. He got dressed quickly but revelled in the joy of finally getting to wear the Konoha Jounin Flak jacket. He then put his headband on and grabbed his ninja tools and new sword. He made his way to the table, sitting down across from Hinata and next to Minato. Kushina was in the kitchen finishing up on breakfast.

"Morning Dad! Morning Ma! Morning Hinata!"

"Good morning Naruto." Minato said tiredly.

"Good morning, Sochi!" Kushina chirped.

"G-good morning Naruto-kun." Hinata stuttered out.

Kushina set food in front of everyone and spoke up. "Well eat up everyone! We've got a big day ahead of us!" At the sound of her words, everyone began shoveling food into their mouths, devouring their meal quickly and cleaning their plates.

"All right! Follow me Hinata! We're going to meet our team at the Academy!" Naruto said, pulling a blushing Hinata out the door.

"Ah she's so much like Kurenai-Chan. It's crazy! I hope she can find an Anko to help break her if that shyness that she had."

"Yeah. Naruto told me that's her Sensei in the future. As for breaking her shyness habit, I think Naruto can do it, whether he's trying to or not."

On the way to the Academy, Naruto was amped up for his Jounin instructor position. He was firing off questions without waiting for answers.

"Who do you think we'll get? I hope there isn't too many lame-o D-Rank missions. Do you think we'll get an Uchiha? Or a Hyuuga? Maybe we'll get someone with an awesome bloodline!"

"Who knows? It's all up to Hokage-Sama's judgement."

At the Academy, dozens of Genin were milling around, waiting for their instructor. Instead of their normal Chuunin teacher, a teenaged girl with pigtails entered the room.

"Hey guys. I'm Myuki Nohara, and I'm here to give out the Genin assignments."

"What happened to Sanji-Sensei?"

"He was called to the front. Now let's get your assignments. Team 1 is…"

A Genin hopeful was sprinting down the halls of the academy. He was late, plain and simple.

"Aw crap! I can't believe I overslept! Sanji-Sensei is going to be pissed!"

He burst through the class doors, five minutes late.

"Sorry I'm late Sanji-Semsei! It won't happen again! Huh…? Who are you…?"

"I'm Sanji's replacement. It's only 11:10 so you're only ten minutes late. I haven't called your name, so take your seat. Oh and how can you promise to never be late to class again, if this is the last time you'll be in this room?"

"Okay sensei. You got me there. I just said it out of instinct. You see I couldn't sleep last night and then I fell asleep at the table this morning. If my mom hadn't woke me up, I'd still be asleep."

"Anyway…Team 6…Kido Kagayaki…Tenzo Yamamoto…and Mai Kurosawa. Everyone will have two senseis by the way."

Kido wore a dark blue open jacket with one thin green stripe going down the sleeves, dark blue pants with thin green lines imitating the pattern of the jacket, a green shirt, green metal plated gloves, dark blue tall Shinobi sandals, a light grey kunai pouch, a white sheathed katana and a shorter black sheathed tanto blade was on his back, and a black Konoha headband wrapped around his head.

Kido had dark green hair with orange tips in a straight style that had two long bangs on either side of his face and ended in a small loose ponytail, resembling Itachi Uchiha's hairstyle. His eyes were a bright gold color, and he had light skin.

Tenzo wore a white outlined dark grey high collared neck cape over a sleeveless white shirt, dark brown pants, white Shinobi sandals, grey arm warmers, black squared glasses, two white kunai pouches, and a white Konoha headband around his forehead.

Tenzo's blue hair was combed to the side and his eyes were a light shade of emerald green. He had cream colored skin.

Mai was dressed in a light grey tunic shirt with a cream colored inner lining and long sleeves that were folded and buttoned up just below the elbow. The tunic had a slit on both sides going up to the waist, and a cream colored zipper. Underneath her tunic shirt, she had a tight fishnet shirt. On her waist she wore an arctic white body band that doubled as a belt that held her ninja tools. Her leg attire consisted of pair of black high waisted cargo shorts that went down to her upper thigh, a pair of maroon colored thigh high stockings, and black shinobi sandals. Her black headband was tied around her head.

Mai had two long blonde pigtails that reached her mid thigh. There were also some golden locks that were loosely framing her face and bringing out her violet colored eyes. Her skin was lightly tanned and she carried two hand fans.

"Awesome! I get to be on a team with Mai and Tenzo! We're gonna kick some butt!" Kido shouted, causing half the class to glare at him. One student, an Uchiha at the very back of the class, stood up and threw a Shuriken at his back.

"Shut it, Suna trash!"

"Tenten, being well versed in weaponry, saw the Shuriken before it was thrown. She tossed a kunai to counter the Uchiha's Shuriken. The kunai impacted the wall with the point in the middle of the Shuriken finger hold. Before anyone realized what happened, two well thrown kunai pinned the offender to the back of the bench he was sitting on.

"I don't think I need to remind you that attacking your comrades is considered treason in wartime and is punishable by death."

"He's no comrade! He's an outsider! He doesn't deserve to be here!" He growled while some of the others agreed.

Tenten frowned. Just being in the Fourth Great Ninja War and working with other countries that held grudges towards each other taught her to diffuse these kinds of situations.

"Did you know, the Shodaime Hokage's wife, Mito Uzumaki was an outsider. She was from a foreign land too. So by your logic, she didn't belong here and wasn't a comrade. By your logic, Mito Uzumaki didn't deserve to be in Konoha. You should rethink your logic. Your comrades will always be from different backgrounds, some very different and one not so different, but they'll have your back."

"Hmph…I'm an elite Uchiha! I don't need the help of anyone here."

"Oh really now? It says here that you're ranked seventh and not even considered for Rookie of the Year. In fact, the Rookie of the Year, was Kido Kagayaki." Tenten expertly lied. She didn't know him, but judging from the way he acts, he wasn't a person who was very friendly. So she decided to cut him down a few pegs. Even though he was really number two in the class.

"That's because he cheated!" A random Genin shouted.

"How so? Do you have any evidence?" Tenten said. The class was silent so she decided to end the discussion here.

"The bottom line is, if you take your comrades for granted now, they won't want to save you later. There's a war going on right outside these walls. The adults and hell, a few children your age and younger are out keeping the village safe. I was on my own mission in a squadron near Grass Country. We were making our way back to the village and we came across The Yellow Flash's Genin Team. Only they were Chuunin and Kakashi Hatake was a Jounin. One of your clansmen, Obito Uchiha was nearly killed. He gave his Sharingan to Kakashi, who had one of his eyes cut out. They had gone to rescue their teammate Rin Nohara, my little cousin, from a squadron of Iwa ninja. If we hadn't arrived at time we did, Obito would've been crushed to death by rubble and the other two would've died." Tenten stated, letting the reality of what happened sink in.

"Now imagine yourselves on that mission. You're going to die. Your teammates are injured. There are just too many ninja for you to handle and you're low on chakra. You fire a distress flare, but only one ninja can help. That ninja arrives and it's Kido. He sees your face, and you see his face. He recognizes you and your teammates. Then he turns away and leaves. You wonder why, then you remember that you tried to hurt him, you isolated him, and kicked him to the side and treated him like trash. You even tried to kill him. Yes, tried to kill him." She said, watching the Genin's shocked reactions. A few of them began to clench their fists in anger.

"If you hadn't noticed, five of your classmates are not in attendance today. Those same classmates attempted to kill him with the help of a Chuunin. Luckily, some of my squad mates who are Jounin subdued the six individuals and they were taken into custody by the Uchiha Police Force. I wouldn't put it past Kido here to hate all of you, but instead of speculating, let's ask him. Kido, do you hate your classmates?"

"Well…no. I think some of you are assholes or jerks, but no, I don't hate you guys. I just want to be friends with you all. I won't leave you to die, even if you do treat me like shit. We're all comrades and the real enemies are Iwa and Kumo. I'm gonna prove to all of you that I'm a loyal Konoha Ninja!"

"See now? He doesn't even hate you guys. He wants to prove his loyalty to Konoha. Now, let's get back to the team assignments. Where was I? Oh right. Team 9…Hotaka Tokuichi…Akio Aburame…and Tsunami Usagi."

Hotaka wore a short sleeved burnt orange open jacket with a single white stripe running up the length of the arm over a dark grey shirt that ended at the elbow, dark grey short wristbands, beige cargo shorts, grey shin guards, a black kunai pouch, and blue shinobi sandals.

His hair was a vibrant shade of mint green and was similar to Minato's own hairstyle except Hotaka had a small braid on the right side of his head. His eyes were a dark brown while his skin was a peach color.

Akio was wearing the standard Aburame gear; a large grey high collared coat with billowing sleeves, and a wide hem. He wore black pants and blue shinobi sandals, the Aburame style of sunglasses, and his blue Konoha headband was around his head.

His hair was a chocolate brown in a messy haircut, his skin was very pale, and like most Aburame Clan members, his eye color was unknown.

Tsunami was wearing a white mini sleeved shirt, much like the one Kushina wore at home, a coral pink colored body band, blue shorts, knee high stockings, blue shinobi sandals, blue wristbands, and her blue shinobi forehead protector was around her neck. She wore a large set of red, green, and blue scrolls across her lower back.

She had black eyes, light skin, and Her hairstyle was an imitation of Tsunade Senju's low hanging ponytails, except longer and orange in color.

"Alright Kido, let's see who can become Chuunin faster. Me or you. Loser has to treat the winner for an entire week!"

"Okay, but let's add to that. First to have his Genin team become Chuunin and run a successful B-Rank or above wins. Losing team pays for the winning team's ninja tools for a month. How's that sound?" Kido said, challenging his best friend and his team.

"I accept! Oh and so does Team 9! You guys better start saving up, Tsunami is into seals, and sealing ink is pretty pricey these days!" Hotaka said.

The two got up and shook on it, their words forged in friendship and rivalry.

"Ahem! As much as I like your enthusiasm, we need to finish off the team assignments. So please return to your seats."

"Whoops! Sorry Miyuki-Sensei. We'll hash it out later."

"Thanks. Now, Team 14 is…Kentaro Uchiha…Hiroki Ishiyama…and…Michiru Akimichi."

Kentaro wore the standard Uchiha garb; a dark blue high collared short sleeved shirt with the Uchiha Clan crest on the back, brown shorts, and blue shinobi sandals. He also had his right arm bandaged to just below his shoulder and his left arm stayed naked. His black headband was secured on his forehead.

He had short black hair, onyx colored eyes, and light skin, like most Uchiha Clan members.

Hiroki wore a dark red short sleeved hoodie with fishnet armor underneath, grey pants with bandages wrapped around the lower leg area, grey shinobi sandals, one glove on his left hand, and his red Konoha headband was around his arm.

His skin was tanned and his hair and eyes were both a deep shade of chestnut brown.

Michiru's garb consisted of a simple dark blue long sleeved short dress with fishnet forearm sleeves, a red sash tied around the waist, a dark grey vest, and thigh high black shinobi sandals with her forehead protector wrapped around her waist on top of the red sash.

Her skin was lightly tanned and she had light brown hair with black eyes. Her hair was in a loose ponytail that stopped at her mid back.

"HA! TAKE THAT YUMIKO! THIS IS PROOF THAT KENTARO-KUN AND I BELONG TOGETHER!"

Whatever Chunks! I'm looking to expand my tastes. Uchihas are so last week. I've got my eye on someone better." Yumiko said as she turned and smiled coyly while she waved her fingers at Tenzo who had the smooth response of choking on the gum he had in his mouth and coughed hard to clear it from his throat.

"W-what're you tryna do, kill me?!" Tenzo shouted before turning to Kido. "You gotta help me hide from her man! All of my fangirls washed out of the Academy over the four year period, but now Yumiko, one of the most scary fangirls in the Academy history besides Tsunade Senju, is suddenly interested in me! If I say the wrong thing, she'll hunt me down and kill me!"

"Don't worry bro, she won't kill you. Maybe just stalk you a little bit." Kido reassured his new teammate.

"Somehow I don't feel any better." Tenzo said .

"Okay then. Let's finish up. Team 15 is Daisuke Kenji…Hanare Nara…and Yumiko Yukari."

Daisuke wore a brown short bodied jacket with rolled up sleeves sporting cream yellow accents, matching pants, a dark grey almost black short sleeve zip up vest, and dark grey almost black sandals and a black headband.

Daisuke's hair was a dusty light red color, and his eyes were brown. His skin was pale and he had a small scar in his eyebrow.

Hanare wore a brown battle kimono with a grey haori around her and a fishnet shirt underneath. She wore blue shinobi sandals with a blue headband.

Her hair was silver and her eyes were green. She had dark skin.

Yukari wore a short sleeved red tunic with Orange outlining, a black skirt underneath the tunic, maroon thigh high stockings and maroon short gloves, with an Anbu style chest guard in a crop top form over the tunic. She had red sandals and her red headband rested on top of her head, much like Sakura's did.

Her hair was a purple color and it was smooth and long. Her eyes were pink and her skin was a light peach color.

"I hope we can work well together and become a successful team with formidable skills." Daisuke said in a deep voice.

"Hmm…we'll see." Yukari said to her new teammate.

"Okay now that all of the teams have been announced, I'll list off your sensei's. Team 6… your senseis will be Haruto Namikaze and Hikari Hyuuga. Team 9…your senseis will be Danuja Sato and Airi Kenji. Team 14…has Ryota Uchiha and Kin Sunohara. Team 15 has been assigned Akari Kazahana and Himari Hyuuga. I wish you all good luck on your journey to become quality shinobi. Wait here for your Senseis. I'll be taking my leave." Tenten said before walking out of the classroom. She nodded to the Sensei standing outside the doors and they walked in. One by one it went from Team 1 to Team 5.

"Team 6 meet us on the roof!" Naruto said with his hand raised. His and Hinata's new Genin stood up and followed them to the roof. Naruto and Hinata Shunshin'd to the roof and waited for their new charges to arrive. Two minutes later, all three of the car walking up the stairs and Naruto motioned for them to take a seat as Hinata has finished adjusting her headband. Once she turned around, Kido instantly recognized her.

"Hey Hikari-san! Hey Haruto-san! It's me Kido from yesterday! I didn't know you guys were going to be my Senseis!"

"Oh hello Kido-kun. How are you?"

"I've been great! Just got two cool Senseis!" He said laughing.

"I can see that. Now let's begin with some introductions!" Hinata chirped.

"It goes like this; state your name, your likes, your dislikes, your hobbies, and also your dreams and goals for the future. Hikari will start, then I'll go after."

"My name is Hikari Hyuuga. My likes are flower pressing, Ramen, and cooking. My dislikes are the Caged Bird Seal, people who put others down, Kumo Ninja, and Cinnamon Rolls. My dreams for the future are to destroy the Caged Bird Seal, reunite the Hyuga Clan, be an elite ninja, and marry someone special to me."

"The name is Haruto Namikaze! I like Ramen, a.k.a. The Food of the Gods, training, my precious people, Konoha, and gardening. I don't like unnecessary violence, people who judge others before they know them, and the three minutes it takes to cook Ramen. My goal is to become the Hokage so I can protect my precious people and the village, and start my own family."

"Alright, now it's your turn. Let's start with you Kido.

"Awesome! I'm Kido Kagayaki. I like training, a cool breeze, and my three best friends Mai, Tenzo, and Hotaka. I don't like the people who hate me because I was born in a different village in the Land of Wind, unnecessary violence, and mushrooms. My goal is to become an elite Jounin and have my own Genin squad, and recreate the Kagayaki Clan here in Konoha."

"Okay now you with the glasses. You're up." Naruto said.

"Okay. My name is Tenzo Yamamoto and I like BBQ'd meat, learning about Shinobi history, and reading. I don't like people who say I can't be a quality shinobi while being booksmart. My goal is to make my dad proud by becoming a Chuunin before he did at 15, and then to join the Anbu Corps in the Code Analysis Department."

"And now for the girl on the squad." Hinata said.

"Okay, my name is Mai Kurosawa. I enjoy cooking, training, and spending time with good friends like Kido-kun and Yumiko. I don't like when people are mean to Kido because he is from a different country, haughty showoffs, and spiders. My goal is to become a successful Kunoichi and then have a family."

"Those are all admirable goals. Hikari and I are here to help you make those dreams and goals a reality. Now we're going to meet at Training Ground number 6 tomorrow morning at 8:00am. We're going to have some survival training. You've got the rest of the day off." Naruto said. They nodded and stood up. But before they walked off, Hinata stopped them.

"Oh and we almost forgot. Don't eat breakfast or you'll throw up."

The three newly minted Genin wondered what they meant by that. Whatever it was, put them all on edge. Before any of them could ask, their Senseis had Shunshin'd away.

"Uhm…what did Hikari-Sensei mean by that?" Mai said, the uneasiness evident in her voice.

"She probably meant exactly what she said, but as for why she said it, we will not know until tomorrow when we begin training with both our sensei. It is unwise to dwell on it, as it was most likely a tactic to make us nervous." Tenzo answered stoically as he pushed up his glasses.

"Yeah don't even worry about it Mai. Hey how about we go to Hotaka's house for dinner? His mom is cooking stir fry! He invited me. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if we came as a team. I think that his team will be there. Maybe his brother and sister will be there. His dad is still on the Kumo battlefront, so he couldn't be here."

"Okay what time is it at?" Mai said.

"It's at 6:00pm in on Northside of Konoha in the Monument District. The house is pretty big so we can't miss it. In fact, we'll just meet at the Hokage Tower and walk there together." Kido said. His two teammates nodded and agreed to meet at 5:30.

"Well I'm going to go read up on the new analysis techniques that the Nara clan came out with. I hear that they refute the older tactics. I will see you guys tonight at 6:30." Tenzo said as he walked towards the Shinobi Library.

"Okay see ya!" Kido shouted to his departing friend. He prepared to leap away and go to the training grounds, but Mai grabbed his sleeve.

"Umm…Kido-kun, would you like to go and get some light training done?"

"Yeah, sure! I was actually on my way to the training grounds anyway. Race you there! It's at Training Ground 27! Ready…GO!" Kido chanted before taking off.

"That's so like you, Kido-kun. Always excited and full of energy." She said to herself before taking off in the direction of Training Ground 27.

Kido was waiting for only a minute before Mai burst through the foliage and skidded to a halt in front of her best friend. She bent over, hands on her knees, panting as she attempted to catch her breath. Kido however, seemed to be just fine. She walked to the green and orange haired thirteen year old who was waiting patiently under a shady oak tree.

"I'll give you a little bit to recover. We just completed part one of three of our training! Just let me know when you're ready to continue." After a minute or so, Mai stood up straight and began stretching.

"Okay so let's work on our Taijutsu. We'll do about thirty minutes of sparring, then switch to some weapons training." He said as she nodded. "By the way, have you thought of what specialty weapon you want to use?"

"Well I had a few ideas, but I'm not totally set on a weapon yet. I was hoping you and Tenzo could help me pick. His anaylitical skills to assess my strengths, your coolness factor and your spontaneity will be central to my weapon of choice."

"I make that much of a difference in your weapon choice?" Kido said astonished as he spotted an apple on a branch. He tossed a Shuriken at the stem and cut it down. He caught the apple and bit into it after shining it off on his shirt.

"Well yeah. I really like you-your input and you're one of the only ones in our grad year who is actually skilled with a weapon. And you're really smart too."

 _"Now's my chance to let him know my feelings! I can't miss this!"_

"Kido-kun, I've always wanted to tell you something."

"Yeah, What is it?" He said leaning on to her words.

"Well…We've been best friends ever since the first day of the Academy. Over the years, I saw your growth and it pushed me to be more than just average. Kido-kun…I l—." Mai started to say, before she was interrupted by a shout.

"AHH! WASPS! RUUUUNNN!!" Kido screamed fearfully. Unfortunately the Shuriken He has thrown continued on high into the trees and cut down a wasp's nest and it shattered several yards away. The angry insects targeted the first thing they saw, which happened to be the person responsible for the destruction of their hive. The golden eyed boy ran all around the Training Grounds swatting and slicing Wasps with the sword that was on his back and occasionally being stung.

"Ouch! That really hurts!! Time to wipe these wasps out!"

He jumped a back into the middle of the field, leapt diagonally into the air and executed a half front flip so he was facing his insectoid attackers. He formed a few hand seals and released his Jutsu.

 **"Fūton: Kaze no Purusu Kougeki!"** (Wind Style: Wind Pulse Attack!)

Six light green wind bullets were launched from the Kagayaki boy's mouth. They reduced the offending wasps to shattered exoskeletons and broken wings as the remains fell to the ground. Kido then finished his front flip, landed on a tree and slid down the trunk of said tree and landed near Mai. The adrenaline rush he was experiencing wore off and he gripped his stings in pain.

"Argh! Jeez that venom really hurts!"

"Hold still Kido, I'll take care of that venom." Mai said. The blonde removed a vial of antivenom from her tool pouch and lightly agitated the contents.

"Drink this, it's antivenom."

Kido took the vial and popped the top off before he ingested the shiny light blue liquid. He made a face as he drank the bitter antivenom.

"Ugk! It tastes terrible."

"It's not supposed to taste good Kido-kun." He finished off the liquid and started to feel better, then became drowsy.

"Uhhh…is this stuff supposed to make me tired?" He said with a yawn.

"Yes. You need a bit of rest anyway. So just take nap. I'll wake you up when it's time to go celebrate."

"Okay then." He said tiredly. He laid his head on some soft grass under the shade of an oak tree while Mai practiced throwing some kunai, Shuriken, and reading a book she kept in her tool pouch.

A few hours later at 4:45, Mai roused Kido from his sleep.

"Ugh…five more minutes mom…I'm not going to be late…" Kido muttered tiredly without opening his eyes.

"…Um Kido-kun, it's me, Mai."

"Huh? Where are we? I remember running to the training grounds, then…oh right. The antivenom made me drowsy and I fell asleep for a few hours. Oh no! Did we miss the celebration?! Are we late?! Oh man, why am I always late?" Kido said panicking.

"No no, it's fine Kido-kun. It's only 4:45. I'm going to stop by my house and shower off, then we'll meet up with Tenzo at the Hokage Tower so we should get going."

"Yeah that makes sense. Onward, to your house!" Kido said gallantly.

It took fifteen minutes to get to Mai's house. Kido sat in the living room as Mai walked to the bathroom to shower. Mai's mother, Yuka Kurosawa, entered the living room from the kitchen to greet Kido.

Yuka was wearing a Chuunin vest with a pink long sleeved shirt, a form fitting blue knee length skirt, with blue shorts and are issue Shinobi sandals, a white lab coat and a white Konoha headband that was tied on top of her head.

She was fairly tall and had a slender figure with wide hips and an average sized bust. Her blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail and her violet colored eyes shone. Her skin was a light tan.

"Oh hello Kido-kun. Are you here to spar with Goromaru? Or are you going to hang out with Mai."

"We got our Genin Teams today and I'm on Team 6 with Tenzo and Mai. We're going to be so awesome! Tonight, Hotaka is having a celebration at his house so I'm bringing my team. And I was named Rookie of the Year!"

"Oh that's great! I'm sure your team will do amazing. Just remember, never leave your comrades behind."

"Of course not. How was your shift at the hospital?"

"It wasn't too bad. A few touch and go situations, but nothing the medical staff and I couldn't handle." She answered. They talked until Mai entered the living room fifteen minutes later.

"It was nice talking to you again Mrs. Kurosawa."

"Likewise! I look forward to your next visit and try not too overexert yourself."

They met up with Tenzo at the Hokage Tower right on time. Together, they walked to Hotaka's house and arrived shortly after leaving the front of the Hokage Tower. Kido knocked on the front door to the large two story house with several rooms. Kido knocked on the door and after a few moments, Hotaka and his team came to the door.

"Hey guys, you're just in time. My parents got called away to a mission and can't host the party here, so we'll have to go to the Akamichi Family BBQ instead. My family and friends get a fifty percent discount so it'll be cheap." The green haired teen said, informing Team 6.

"What about your little brother?" Kido asked.

"My mom hired a Genin squad for the D-Rank mission."

"Ha ha. That's more like a C-Rank mission." Kido joked as Hotaka laughed.

"Okay let's get going! I'm starving!" Tsunami groaned, cutting off any more conversation. They all walked to the Akimichi Family BBQ and arrived quickly and were seated. They had ordered the All You Can Eat Akimichi Special and began digging in.

"Oh boy, this looks amazing! I can't wait to devour this!" Kido said picking up a rather large portion of beef with his chopsticks and setting it on his plate.

"The Akimichi Family BBQ never fails to satisfy. Especially with the All You Can Eat Akimichi Special! Great food and great prices makes this one of the very best pizza places to eat out in the village!" Hotaka said.

"This would be my first time experiencing the food here. I had always heard that the Akimichi Clan's culinary skills rivaled and often surpassed some of the best chefs in the world, but I had never tried it first hand before tonight." Tenzo said with a mouth full of beef and grilled onions.

"Yeah the food here is amazing!" Mai exclaimed. After about an hour or so of eating and talking, they heard shouting. The party of six all looked around the corner and saw a fuming Michiru ready to punch someone with her Partial Expansion Jutsu, and another woman who was reprimanding her. It seemed like they were the only ones who could hear the dispute, since no one gave any visible reaction that they could hear the argument. They scooted closer, listening in on the conversation. They could now hear what was going on very clearly.

"Ugh! You're such a pain Rika! Just stay outta my business!"

"First of all Michiru, I am your mother! You need to stop calling me by my given name! Secondly, you are an Akimichi! Slimming your body down to that of your classmates is Taboo, you know that! And what for? To impress some Uchiha boy? How would your father react to this news?"

"You're not my mother! You're my step mom, so stop acting like you're my mother! Tou-San never should've married you! And it's my life, it's my body, and it should be my choice! I'm not even going to be apart of the Akimichi Clan when i get married, so why in the world should I continue to have the Akimichi mentality and stay this way? I can still use the Akimichi Clan Jutsu, I'll just take a bigger hit on my chakra reserves."

"And that's one of the reasons you shouldn't go through with this or evenfoster this idea! We are in a war Michiru! You're going to need all the chakra you can spare. People die out there, do you understand? I'm trying to keep you safe! You want to be a great ninja? Do want to open up that hair salon? Well guess what? In order to do that, you need money and money comes from missions. To do missions means risking your life and you're going to need chakra, the only thing you'll be opening up if you don't have enough chakra to defend yourself, is an early grave!"

Michiru was silent for a few moments, then she turned away from her step mother.

"Look Rika… just mind your own business from now on." She said to her step mother, then left the kitchen and then the restaurant altogether. Mai could see the tears in her eyes and spoke up.

"Michiru, wait!"

The Akimichi girl turned stopped and quickly wiped her tears before turning to face Mai and her group. She put on a smle and tried to act as if nothing was wrong.

"Hey everyone, what are you guys doing here?"

"Oh well we're celebrating becoming Genin. We were just talking about our Senseis, did you want to join us?" The tan skinned girl thought about it for a minute and decided to join her comrades.

"So what's the sitch on Team 9's Senseis?" Michiru asked.

"Well we've got this one guy named Danuja. He's kind of mysterious and he wears a helmet that looks like an ancient Warring States Period helmet from the Land of Water. It even has a cloth on the back and he added a mouth plate, so the only thing exposed are his eyes, which are a piercing grey color. We don't really know much about him, since he didn't really want to share with us just yet. Our other Sensei was weird though. She was going on and on about the power of friendship. Her name is Airi."

"Who are your Senseis?" Kido asked Michiru.

"Oh well one's is from the Uchiha Clan. His name is Ryota. He's pretty cool, but he's only interest right now is Kentaro-kun. Our other Sensei is a lady named Kin. She wears a lot of golden jewelry and says it helps her fight. But she looks kind of like one of those phony psychics in the shopping center with all that jewelry on." Michiru said as everyone started to laugh.

"I am Madam Kin! Give me your money so I can tell you a ridiculous fortune! Ohhh!" Kido said dramatically in his best old lady psychic voice. The entire party of seven laughed even harder. After another hour, everyone decided to head home to get some sleep for their upcoming training session with their Jounin Senseis. Team 9 all headed in the same direction since Hotaka and Tsunami lived in the same neighborhood near the Hokage Monument and the Aburame Compound was not too far from there, located in the forests to the East of the Great Stone Hokage Monument. Tenzo lived on the West side of the Village so he opened up his book and walked towards his home in silence while waving a goodbye to his friends. Michiru went back inside the restaurant to wait for closing time at 11:00. Hotaka whispered something to Tsunami and she giggled. She then turned and addressed the two remaining people.

"Kido, your house isn't too far from Mai's house. Walk her home."

"Huh? Why? Mai's pretty skilled. I'm sure she can take down anyone who bothers her."

Mai felt happiness and disappointment at the same time. She was glad that Kido thought she was strong, but sad that he didn't want to walk her home.

 _"Maybe he is oblivious to how dating works, since he's always training and the sex-ed class was only for the girls."_

"Grrr…how about because I said so! And also because it's proper etiquette to walk a lady home after dinner. So go and make sure she gets there safely."

Kido gave her a look of confusion and shrugged his shoulders. "Okay then, onward to Mai's house!" He shouted as he lifted Mai up into a bridal style carry and jumped high into the air towards the East side of the village. Hotaka and Tsunami shook their heads at their friend's antics. When will the world cease to be full of dense boys who have no idea about feelings girls have towards them. At that moment, Naruto sneezed loudly, spraying the water he was drinking all over Minato, who just used a sealing scroll to absorb the water and dry himself off. The two made it back to the Kurosawa residence and Kido set the blonde girl down. She smiled at her friend and hugged him.

"Thanks for walking me, or rather jumping to my house. I had a nice time eating dinner with our friends. And I'm sorry that you were attacked by those asinine classmates of ours. If I was there, I would have…!"

"It's okay Mai. Our Senseis were cool enough to stop and help me out. And I had a fun time at dinner too. I wanted to thank you for being my best friend and my first friend too. We've been best friends for six years so think of this as an anniversary gift. Here, take this." The green haired boy reached into his weapons pouch and fished out a white box with a red bow on it.

"Open it! I want to see your reaction!" He laughed.

She opened the box and inside she saw a black kunai with a small circular hilt and a sealing formula written on a white sealing tag.

"It's a special kunai. Use it in life or death situations only though. It's not for throwing. To activate it, pour a tiny bit of your chakra into it. But don't do it here." She nodded and put it into her kunai pouch.

"Thank you so much Kido! You're such a thoughtful guy. I don't have anything for you though."

"It's okay. All I need is your friendship!" He said giving her the thumbs up sign. "Well…goodnight Mai, I'll see you tomorrow!" Kido said then jumped away to his own home.

Mai opened the door and saw her brother, Goromaru and her mother sitting on the couch smiling. She noticed that the window was open and she eyed them suspiciously.

"To answer your question, yes we were listening. Mai's got a boyfriend! Mai's got a boyfriend! Ha ha ha!" Goromaru taunted.

Goromaru was a tall 15 year old with blonde hair and brown eyes. He wore the standard Chuunin uniform with gloves and short sleeves. He had a scar on his cheek from his first Chuunin Exams and a red headband on his forehead. His hair was slicked back and two thick locks of hair hung on either side of the Konoha symbol on the headband.

"S-shut up Goromaru!"

"Goromaru, stop teasing her about her almost-boyfriend."

"Mom!!"

"Oh sorry honey!"

"You guys are being jerks! I'm going to bed!"

Meanwhile, Kido has landed in front of his house and walked in. His mother, Mikan, ran to the door and hugged her son.

Mikan had bright orange hair with green tips tied in a loose ponytail, gold eyes, and light skin. She wore a light blue dress with a black apron around her waist. Blue sandals and a pair of shin guards were on her legs. She wasn't a ninja of Konoha, but a retired ninja from Suna. She had retired when she had Kido and left for Konoha seeking asylum. She used all the money saved up from her A-Ranked and S-Ranked missions in Suna to buy the house and a small multipurpose shop in the city center. Her shop was doing fairly well and she didn't mind the occasional visit from the Hokage.

"Kido-kun! Where were you? I thought you were coming home after the Academy let out."

"I went to the Akimichi Family BBQ with my team and Hotaka's team. I left you a note on the counter before I left." He said pointing to the note on the counter.

"Oh. Sorry. I've been all over the place since last week." She said hugging her son. "My baby is finally a ninja! Oh if your Great Aunt and father could see you now, they'd be so proud of you! I want you to be careful out there son. The enemy doesn't care how old or young you are. All they see is a Konoha forehead protector. And remember the Kagayaki teachings." She finished, tearing up.

"Okay mom. I'll be safe. My teammates have my back."

Her face turned deathly serious. "Who are your teammates?"

"Mai Kurosawa and Tenzo Yamamoto. I trust them both." Mikan's face softened.

"Okay then that's great. Tomorrow we'll celebrate your promotion. But for now, hit the hay. You've got a big day tomorrow."

"Okay mom. Goodnight."

The next morning, Team 6 was assembled at Training ground 6, which was a training ground with a forested area, a small lake, a cliff face, and a wide open grassy clearing. Nearby, Training Ground 7 was a mile away. They al arrived fifteen minutes early. Naryto and Hinata were waiting in the trees, observing their students. As soon as the clock struck 8:00, the two Veteran ninja strode out from the tree line and greeted their young students with a good morning.

"Are you ready to get started with your Genin Exam?"

"Wait, what?! We already took the Genin Exams! Is this a prank Sensei?" Kido questioned.

"As much as I like pranks, this isn't one. The Exams you took at the Academy were to weed out those at the bottom. This is to make sure you're all competent ninja ready to take on missions. This test has a 66% fail rate. Which means only about 4 of the 12 Teams will pass this test. Would you like to know what your test is?" Naruto explained. The Genin nodded shakily and he deferred to Hinata.

"All you have to do is Land one hit on the both of us as individuals before noon. One hit on me, and one hit on Haruto-kun. Here's the kicker, our test has a 33% fail rate. That means one of you will fail and get sent back to the Academy. That unfortunate fate goes to the Genin is last to get both hits on each target. Come at us with the intent to kill, or you'll fail for sure. Any questions?"

The Genin were too shell shocked to ask any questions so Hinata initiates the test as Naruto started the timer.

"BEGIN!!"

 **Will Team 6 pass the Genin Exams? Will Kido show his Bloodline? Who will be sent back to the Academy? Find out next time on Dragonball Z! Just kidding! Find out next time on Musdled Timeline! So how'd you guys like the chapter? Leave a review or PM and let me know how I did with the characters. If you want an OC Jounin Senseis me know. The Chuunin Exams poll for this era is still open. For now peace and enjoy.**


	9. Chapter 9: Genin Exams

**_What is that? What is that ringing?"_**

 ** _"I think it's coming from there Sir."_**

 ** _"Oh right! Ollo?"_**

 ** _"It's hello."_**

 ** _"Oh...Hello?"_**

 ** _A high five to anyone who can remember that Movie Reference!_**

 ** _Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter for you. Happy Menorial Day! Let's take a moment to remember the ones who have fallen in the line of duty._**

 ** _Okay now. Back to some announcements. I have decided what Kido's Bloodline is. If you can guess before you read the chapter, you'll get an awesome prize of your choosing. If too many people guess it, I'll have to narrow it down though, Chuunin Exams Style! No I'm kidding but yeah try and guess his bloodline._**

 ** _Remember to vote on the Chuunin Exams Poll I've got running._**

 ** _I'm going to try and answer Reviews and PMs here, as I've seen quite a few writers on do this. Keep in mind I don't have that many reviews yet so there's only one for this chapter._**

 ** _Sonicprophet: Yes it would be crazy for them to just transition like that. Fortunately, I've got plans for the time travelers and their false identities. _**

**_Okay it's time for the story. Read and enjoy. Remember to leave a review. If you have questions, let me know._**

 ** _Chapter 9: Genin Exam; The Reason to Graduate!_**

"BEGIN!"

"Lesson number 2." Naruto said.

The trio of Genin quickly scattered when Tenzo threw down smoke bomb. Seconds later, an explosion rocked the area, sending rocks and debris flying in every direction, as well as dispelling the smoke bomb's purple haze. Tenzo smirked and pushed up his glasses, thinking he had got his two hits in. But there was nothing in the area. His eyes widened.

 _"Genjutsu!"_

Before he could do anything, he felt his legs being swept out from under him and suddenly an elbow slammed into his gut. As soon as he opened his mouth to give cry of pain, he was kicked in the ribs and sent tumbling across the grass. He looked up after a few moments and saw Naruto standing near the clearing smoke with a bored expression on his face. Rather than fight anymore, Tenzo smartly retreated into the nearby tree line, watching and waiting for the next skirmish to commence.

"Lesson number 1. Taijutsu." Naruto said, mimicking what he remembered Kakashi saying to Sasuke, Sakura, and himself all those years ago.

Mai leapt from the bushes and pulled two kunai and began fusing kicks and punches with stabs and swings from her two kunai. However this proves to be ineffective against Naruto, who simply batted her hands away and dodged her kicks repeatedly and with great ease. This continued for twenty minutes until she felt a wave fatigue rush through her body. As soon as she slowed down, she overextended a punch. The male blonde ninja took advantage of this and grabbed her outstretched hand. Flipping her over his shoulder, she went flying and slammed into a nearby tree. She slid down the tree and laid on the ground unmoving and defeated for now.

Naruto looked around, waiting, almost anticipating Kido's offensive movement, but nothing happened. Five minutes became ten minutes, and ten minutes turned to fifteen minutes. Then it happened. He caught two well thrown Shuriken by the holes on his index finger.

 **"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!"** (Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Jutsu)

Twenty fist sized fireballs came flying at the blonde Jounin. He dodged the fireballs by jumping to the side and saw Kido scooping up Mai and retreating. Naruto moved to pursue him, but saw a lit explosive tag where the Kagayaki scion had been standing. He watched it go up in flames and blow a hole in the ground.

"Smart. Those Shuriken and that Housenka no Jutsu was a distraction to gather his teammates. I can see why he's the Rookie of the Year." The Uzumaki thought.

Kido saw where Tenzo was running to and took off in the same direction with Mai on his back. Eventually she awoke and had Kido put her down and they continued their search for their third teammate.

"Thanks for picking me up back there Kido-kun."

"No problem. That's what teammates are for. We need to come up with a plan to hit both of our Sensei before time is up."

The bespectacled ninja ran for fifteen minutes. He looked around and checked for traps and found none. Deeming his environment safe, he put his back up against a nearby tree and put some ointment that Mai gave Kido and himself on his bruised ribs. He felt better instantly. He stood up and came face to face with Hinata, who promptly knocked him out with a Jyuuken strike. She then turned just in time to avoid a slash from Kido's katana, which was designed after the Kusanagi no Tsurugi that Orochimaru wielded. The Kagayaki scion attacked with fervor, using basic and intermediate attacks to gauge her dodging speed. The bluenette ninja moved to shut down his Teneketsu so he sheathed his weapon while putting some distance in between himself and Hinata and threw several Shuriken at her, which she dodged each one with ease. While she was dodging, he was weaving hand seals. He finished as she dodged the last Shuriken.

 **"Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!"** (Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu)

Kido let loose a huge fireball the size of a large two story house. Seeing that there was no way to dodge, she did the next best thing.

 **"Shugohakke Rokujūyon Sho!"** (Eight Trugrams: Sixty-Four Protective Palms)

The fireball was destroyed by the sharp chakra shield, but Kido had predicted a Kaiten (Heavenly Spin), and he lunged forward, using the Fire Jutsu as a cover. His fist was cocked back and as soon as Hinata finished blocking the fireball and released her Jutsu, Kido threw his fist forward. Hinata saw him coming with her Byakugan and countered him guiding his fist away from her body and throwing him at a tree. He landed on a tree branch and began throwing kunai and Shuriken at the blue haired Special Jounin. She repeatedly sidestepped the incoming projectiles and called to her Genin.

"Kido-kun, that method isn't going to work. You only have a limited time to complete the task."

He suddenly drew his sword and prepared to jump at his Sensei. He gave a loud battle cry and leapt at her with his sword raised above his head. His shout was so loud, she didn't notice the two poofs of smoke behind her.

"Gotcha!" Kido shouted. She turned sideways to avoid the strike and saw Tenzo and Mai only a yard from her. She sweep kicked Mai and threw her into Tenzo. They both used a prepared Substitution Jutsu to avoid the attack. Kido rounded on his heel and threw a quick roundhouse kick at Hinata's midsection. She lined up to block, but Tenzo and Mai dropped down from the trees. Tenzo punched and Mai threw a shoulder into Hinata, while Kido changed his attack and caught Hinata with a kick to the thigh.

"YES!! We got her guys! Now onto Haruto-Sensei! At this rate, we'll pass this test and become Genin!"

"Remember, one of you will still fail. Choose which one of you will fail wisely. Cut the weakest link out of your team. As you know, there has only ever been four man cells. Whether it was three Jounin tutoring one Genin, a single Jounin with three Genin charges, or in this situation, two Genin and two Jounin, so choose which two Genin are staying."

"We're all going to pass and become Genin…as a team." Kido said seriously before the Genin of Team 6 took off by jumping through the trees. Once they got a safe distance away from Hinata, Kido stopped the other two.

"Hey guys…we need a plan. If we want to pass, we need a plan to hit Haruto-Sensei. If we attack him one on one, we'll never have a chance. I mean he's a Jounin, so he's not going to fall for feints and basic traps. And I've seen him move before, this is nothing. Even Hikari-Sensei was holding back. We need a well thought out plan with a Plan B. While I'm pretty good at coming up with plans on the fly, I'm terrible at actually planning an attack." Kido glanced at Tenzo, who shook his head.

"No I'm good at analysis, not planning."

"Mai, do you think you're up for the challenge?" Kido asked.

"Count me in!" And with that, they began to plan their desperate victory.

Two hours later, everything was planned out and ran into the clearing and found Naruto reading a book titled, 'The Tales of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja' written by Jiraiya of the Sannin. He seemed to be very interested in the book. Hinata's words rang through Kido's head.

 _"Remember, one of you will still fail. Choose which one of you will fail wisely. Cut the weakest link out of your team. As you know, there has only ever been four man cells. Whether it was three Jounin tutoring one Genin, a single Jounin with three Genin charges, or in this situation, two Genin and two Jounin, so choose which two Genin are staying."_

Mai's voice came into his mind as well as his thoughts drifted back to their earlier conversation that was held during their planning.

 _"If it comes down to the wire and I'm not in position for a hit, then take the shot."_

 _"Kido-kun, if that happens, you'll fail and get sent back to the Academy!"_

 _"What?! No way Kido. Do you want to be sent back to the Academy or something? We aren't leaving you like that."_

 _"No I don't. But I know how much you two have improved and persevered to get here and obtain the ranks you've gotten in class. It wouldn't be fair if I graduated and sent you guys back. Plus I couldn't do that to my friends."_

 _"You're acting like you weren't Rookie of the Year because of all that training you did. Day in, day out, rain, sleet, snow, or sunshine, it didn't matter to you. If you had scheduled training at a certain time, then that's when you were training Kido-kun. You're a selfless guy, but you deserve to be here more than us two."_

 _"Yeah what Mai said. And if it comes down to the wire, then we'll all fail together!"_

 _"Fine guys, do whatever you want."_ Kido's voice sounded unconcerned, but he was wiping a few tears away from his face.

The green haired Genin smiled at the recent memory and steeled his nerves. He hoped it didn't come down to the wire, but if it did, he'd be a wreck.

The trio of Genin took their positions and started their plan. Naruto heard the whistle of four shuriken and easily sidestepped them.

 _"So they're finally come out to fight. Let's see if they've got the true meaning to this test."_

Tenzo threw another set of smoke bombs, all aimed at or in front of their Jounin Sensei.

 **"Ninpou: Doku Kiri!"** (Ninja Art: Poison Fog) Tenzo shouted before blowing a huge cloud of deep purple smoke at Naruto, which was hard to discern from the smoke bomb fog.

 **"Futon: Daitoppa!"** (Wind Style: Great Breakthrough)

Kido had used his wind jutsu to scatter the poison on Naruto's entire side of the field. The Jounin leapt from the cloud and saw six surprise shuriken flying at him. He unsheathed his sword to block the metal death stars and avoided getting hit. When he landed, Kido was standing there with his sword drawn.

"Draw your sword Sensei!"

Naruto did as he was asked and drew his blade. The two ran at each other and they both met in the middle in a clash of steel. Kido was skilled with his sword, and even though Naruto had never used a sword, his Uzumaki blood and superior speed was showing as blocked and dodged every attack coming his way. Fortified steel clashed against each other in a ringing of metal while Tenzo and Mai positioned themselves well so they could carry out the plan.

Kido drew a kunai with an explosive tag on it and launched it at his yellow haired Sensei. Naruto jumped away from the explosive. Instead of detonating with a red hot explosion, it exploded with bright flash of light, temporarily blinding everyone present. While the Genin needed to rely on vision, their cerulean eyed Sensei didn't. He expected the trio to try and attack him head on, especially since there was only ten more minutes left, but Kido was just standing there with his sword drawn.

The alarm bells were sounding off loudly in Naruto's head, so he jumped to the side as a Shuriken whizzed by his shoulder. Kido mimicked his every move, for a minute until a second Kido attacked fiercely from behind.

 _"What the hell?! This kid knows how to use Kage Bunshin?"_ Naruto thought in surprise.

The newly appointed Jounin threw a kunai under his arm at the The Kido clone. He heard a poof and turned around expecting nothing but smoke, but instead his eyes showed Mai with a kunai sticking out of her shoulder rushing him with two glowing green chakra filled hands.

 **"Chakra Enjintou!"** (Chakra Scalpel)

Naruto knew from first hand experience in his fight with Kabuto not to get touched or even grazed by that technique. He quickly put some distance in between Mai and himself as he threw Kido over his shoulder. Mai weakly threw a kunai at Naruto, who just sidestepped it. A pop went off, and Tenzo appeared, dropping his Transformation Jutsu from the kunai and threw three Shuriken before doing a few quick hand seals.

 **"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"** (Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu)

Three Shuriken multiplied into thirty and everyone had dodged the hail of metal. He wasn't in the clear yet though.

 **"Katon: Gouryuuka no Jutsu!"** (Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Jutsu)

Naruto glared at the imposing Jutsu coming his way and charged up his chakra. He then shot a beam of Wind chakra through the Fire Jutsu and expanded the wind, causing the Jutsu to dissipate. All three of them now had Naruto surrounded and near a cliff wall. They all attacked at once, with only three more minutes left. They fought with every ounce of strength they had and after two minutes, nothing had worked.

"NOW!!" Kido shouted to his two teammates, who sprung into action once again with renewed vigor. Tenzo was throwing punches and kicks, Mai was utilizing the Chakra Scalpel, and Kido was viciously attacking with his sword.

 **"Kaze no Yaiba!"** (Blade of Wind) Kido shouted attacking with invisible wind blades. Naruto had barely avoided one of them and he kicked Kido away, but it put him off balance and Mai and Tenzo raced in for the victory. But it would be for naught. Naruto regained his footing and grabbed them both—Tenzo by his arm, and Mai by her leg—and slammed them into the hard earth. The alarm clock went off and all three of the students faces fell. They failed to land a hit on their second Sensei. Now would come the terrible punishment of being sent back to the Academy. Hinata walked out from the tree line with her Byakugan active, as she had been using it to watch the entire fight.

"Looks like only one of you managed to pass. Congratulations Kido Kagayaki. You are now an official Genin of Konoha." Naruto said. Kido didn't look happy.

"You two failed and that means you're being sent back to the Academy. Better luck next time." Hinata said, her words crushing Mai and Tenzo's spirits into dust.

"Wait a minute! How did I pass if I didn't land a hit on Haruto-Sensei?!" The Kagayaki scion yelled.

"Actually, you did land a hit on me. Your Kaze no Yaiba nicked me in the arm." He showed him a small cut on his forearm as the color drained from Kido's face.

"So you see now?"

"...NO!! I won't take this. Either we all pass and become Genin, or we all fail and go back to the Academy!" The green haired boy shouted with conviction ringing in his loud voice.

"Mai. Do you really want to become a Genin and be on this team?" She nodded fiercely and said yes.

"Okay then." Naruto said. "Kill Tenzo then. Here, use this kunai." He said as Hinata threw one down in front of her. She looked at her Sensei, shocked that he would suggest that. She shook her head no, and then Naruto slammed Kido onto his stomach and sat on his back holding a kunai to his throat.

"Kill Tenzo now, or I kill Kido!" Naruto ordered. Hinata got behind Tenzo, knocking him onto his stomach and holding a kunai to his throat as well.

"If you can't pick who dies, then they will both be killed."

Tenzo began to hyperventilate in fear and Kido was struggling against Naruto's powerful grip, but to no avail. Mai's heart was gripped with fear for a moment as she looked both of her friends in the eye—Tenzo's terrified green eyes and Kido's defiant gold ones—until she frowned at both of her Senseis with determination. She threw the kunai down hard.

"No! It's just like Kido-kun said. Either we all pass and become a Genin squad, or none of us do and we all fail!"

"Is that what you're going with?" They both asked, seriously. She nodded, absolutely sure of herself. The two Jounin instructors nodded to each other and lifted their kunai high in the air and brought them down quickly, slamming them hilt deep into the earth right next to Kido and Tenzo's heads. They got off their backs and let them up.

"Congratulations Team 6. You all pass!"

It took several moments for the three Genin to process this information, but when they did…

"WHAT?!?! HOW DID WE PASS?!"

"The goal of the test isn't to land a hit. It's to use teamwork to do it. On a mission, you'll often hear that you might have to leave a teammate behind. You'll often need to make a snap decision on who stays behind to fight, or everyone could die. My friend told me that those who break the rules and regulations of a shinobi are trash, but those who leave behind their friends and comrades are worse than trash. You three demonstrated that you are capable of sticking by your comrades and that you have good teamwork. So first, we're going to test your chakra natures and then we'll eat some lunch." He said removing some Chakra Papers from his weapons pouch and handing two each to the three Genin.

"Push some chakra into the paper and it will react according to which chakra affinity you have. Keep in mind that some ninja have three, four, or even all five chakra natures. But most ninja just have one or two. Fire will burn the paper, Wind, cuts it in two, Lightning crinkles the paper, Water makes it soggy, and if it's Earth it'll crumble into dust. So let's start with Tenzo, then Mai, and lastly Kido." Hinata said.

Tenzo pushed sone chakra into the paper and it crumbled into dust."I've got earth, which is good for me since I'm defensive and analytical."

Mai did the same and one side got soggy and the other side caught fire. "Water and Fire for me!"

Kido channeled his chakra into the small slip of paper and it caught fire, cut itself in half, and the other side was mummified and withered away.

"I've got Fire, Wind, and that other bit that happened was my bloodline."

"Huh. I've never seen…well whatever bloodline that was. What is it?" Naruto asked.

"My mom told me not to say anything to anyone but the Hokage. I'll have to ask her if I can tell you about it and when I can use it. I've been training with it though so I can control it really well."

"Okay then, we'll now that we know what your chakra natures are, we'll give you some tools to start mastering elemental manipulation. Take these bento boxes. We're going to go and give our report to the Hokage. We meet tomorrow morning at 9:00am on the bridge. We'll have our first mission after some training." Naruto said. He and Hinata Shunshin'd away from the training grounds, leaving the three Genin by themselves as they opened up their bentos.

"So Hinata, what do you think of our new team?"

"I think that Kido is a natural leader is already at Chuunin level. He's like you. We just need to work on his skills and develops the right way. By the way, when I was fighting them, I looked at his chakra pathways with my Byakugan and his chakra reserves are almost as large as yours were when you graduated. He's definitely my pick for the team leader. Besides us of course. Whatever his bloodline is though, we just need to wait and see. It's obviously an Elemental Bloodline since the chakra papers reacted to it."

"Agreed, go on."

"Mai is very skilled with kunai but needs to improve her strength. Her medical ninjutsu is the best I've seen for her age. She also needs to open up her arsenal as well. She's an Elite Genin but with training and all of that she'll do fine." Naruto nodded in agreement and she continued to the last member of the team.

"Tenzo is smart and his analytical skills are very high. Not as high as Shikamaru, but definitely higher than Temari. He has the same issues that Shikamaru has; he needs a lot more physical strength and Ninjutsu."

"At least he's not as lazy as Shikamaru is." Naruto joked. Hinata giggled at his joke and they continued on to the Hokage Tower with some light conversation. As they entered the Hokage Tower, they saw around twenty other Jounin walking towards the Hokage's Office. When all the Jounin entered the room, they were all seated and waited for the aged Hokage to begin.

"Okay, now that everyone is here, let's begin the meeting. Team 1?"

Two male Jounin stepped up and uttered one word.

"Failed."

Team 2?"

"They have failed the exam."

"Team 3?"

"Failed. But I, Jounin Gin Tamachi, would like to take on Genin Goro Ichinose as an apprentice."

"Very well. I will consider your request. Team 4?"

"Failed."

"Team 5?"

"Failed."

"Team 6?"

Naruto and Hinata stepped up and handed a envelope to the Hokage.

"Passed. With flying colors."

"That's good to hear. Team 9?"

Danuja and Airi walked up and handed in a report to Hiruzen as well.

"Passed."

"Team 10?"

"Failed."

"Teams 11, 12, and 13?" Six voices sounded off with the word 'failed'.

"Team 14?"

"Passed." Ryota said handing in his report.

"Team 15?"

"Passed."

Terrific! All eight Jounin team leaders that have passed their teams, stay behind. Everyone else is dismissed."

"Alright. Team 6's Sensei, Haruto Namikaze and Hikari Hyuuga give me the rundown on your new team. Will they be ready for battlefield duty in six months?"

"Yes they will. They will be ready for open combat. Kido Kagayaki is already at mid Chuunin level and his two teammates, Mai Kurosawa and Tenzo Yamamoto aren't too far behind him if you add their smarts and tactical skills to their overall grade."

"They sound even more promising than I originally thought. Team 9's Sensei, Danuja Osaka and Airi Yamanaka, let's hear your report."

Danuja wore a blue helmet that looked like an ancient Warring States Period helmet from the Land of Water. It had a grey cloth on the back and he added a mouth plate, so the only thing exposed are his eyes. He wore the standard Jounin uniform with blue arm guards and his headband plate was welded onto the helmet he wore.

Airi also wore the Jounin Flak jacket, but hers was half open and she had a purple crop top on under it, black shorts, and a purple apron skirt with blue shinobi sandals. Her headband was around her waist. She had short brown hair and brown eyes.

"Team 9 is a very solid team and I believe them to be fit for battlefield duties in six months as well. Light combat most likely."

"Team 14's Jounin Sensei, Ryota Uchiha and Kin Abumi, same question."

Ryota wore the Uchiha Military Police uniform with the Uchiha Fan surrounded by a Shuriken emblazoned on his shoulder. His headband was on his head. His eyes and hair were the standard Uchiha coloring.

Other than the pound of gold and silver jewelry she wore, and her black lipstick, Kin was dressed in the standard Konoha Jounin gear. Her hair was long and white and her eyes were brown.

"As expected, my Uchiha clansman Kentaro is low Chuunin level while the other two are below average Genin overall. They, as a team can handle a support role, but Kentaro is obviously more suited to open combat."

"Okay then. Now to Team 15's Jounin in charge. Akari Kazahana and Himari Hyuuga."

"Well Hokage-Sama…it's a very strange situation. There is only one male on our team and it's Daisuke. He's a natural leader, but Yukari goes against anything he says. I haven't asked her why yet. They almost failed because of that. They're all at the average Genin level. But the only way they'd be fit for any battlefield role is if they worked together or only did supply runs, cargo shipments, and escort missions." Akari said.

"Okay then. I hope you will work to correct this unforeseen issue." Hiruzen said to all of them. "For now, you are all dismissed except Team 6's Jounin."

Once all the other Jounin filed out of the office and shut the door, Sarutobi turned his attention to the two time travelers.

"Since you most likely made them fight with the intention to kill you, did you see Kido's Bloodline Limit?"

"No Hokage-Sama. We do know he has one though, due to the fact that it showed on the chakra paper we gave him. He said he can't talk about it except with his mother or the Hokage unless he asks permission to tell us."

"Okay that's good. We will be there to talk about it with his mother first thing tomorrow morning at 7:30am. We will meet here at 7:00am and I will have some ANBU retrieve his two teammates so we can all have the discussion."

"Sounds like a plan Jiji!"

Hiruzen chuckled lightly and spoke with a bit of sarcasm in his voice.

"I'm not that old yet."

"You will be in six years! See ya tomorrow Jiji!" Naruto said as he left with a giggling Hyuuga heiress. The Sandaime Hokage sighed in defeat and spoke to no one in particular.

"Just like Kushina. Hmm I am getting old. Maybe it's time to pass the Hat."

One of the ANBU in the room was not as loyal as he should've been and immediately left to report to his master. In an underground compound, Danzo Shimura sat at a desk awaiting news from his ROOT ANBU in the Hokage's Office. Said ANBU agent appeared before him and got down on one knee and removed his specialized mask, which was a Boar.

"Lord Danzo, I have returned with the information about the Genin squads and which one of them has the rare Bloodline Limit. I know where he is currently living and am ready to capture him. Since he is only a Genin, I will go myself and do the job. His mother should be at her shop still. I shouldn't encounter any issues."

"Go on then Boar. I have trained you for eighteen long months. You are at upper Chuunin level, maybe even low Jounin level. He is a Chuunin level Genin. You shouldn't have too much of an issue. This will be a good test of your skills. Do not fail me. If you do, the consequences will be…severe! Is that understood?"

"Yes Lord Danzo. I will complete my mission. I live to serve you and to keep Konoha's best interests at heart." Boar said in a monotone voice.

"Good, now go. I want the child here no later than 6:00pm." Danzo said in a cold calculating voice. Having heard his orders, the ROOT ANBU disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Meanwhile Team 6 was eating their bento boxes. They were basking in the glory of passing the True Genin Exams. Tenzo decided to break the silence with a question.

"So now that we're a team, I think we should choose roles that cover each other's strengths and weaknesses. We should have a role and a specialty." Tenzo said.

"Okay then I guess I'd be the Ninjutsu Specialist since I have tons of chakra, and I already know plenty of Fire and Wind Jutsu and some others."

"Okay sounds good to me. Now your role; I think you should be the leader."

"Me? Why? I mean it would be cool to be the team leader, but am I qualified?"

"Of course you are! You're the best in our graduating class, you've got the most skill, and you were willing to fail to make sure we passed. That's a leader." Mai said with vigor.

"Well since you put it that way, I guess I have no choice but to be the Team Leader. What are you guys going to be?"

"I'll be the Team's Medical Ninja. My mom is a medic ninja, she works at the hospital and I've been learning Medical Jutsu for three years now. As for my role, I'll take the role of Support. My Jutsu are short to mid range and I've got near perfect chakra control."

"Alrighty then. I'll be a Trap Specialist and the Strategiest since I can analyze everything quickly and make a plan and I'm almost as smart as a Nara."

"Okay now that we've got that all squared away, we should set a few training goals. I already have mine, do you guys have any?" The young Kagayaki asked. They both shook their heads.

"Well let's set some now then. My mom says if you set goals for yourself to meet in training, it'll push you to be better and go an extra mile."

"Okay then. I'd like to learn one Fire Jutsu and three Water Jutsu and have one of them mastered in three months. I also want to master the Hone Chiyu no Jutsu (Bone Setting Jutsu) and start learning the Jounin version of the Shousen Jutsu (Mystic Palm Jutsu)."

"I want to become competent in Taijutsu. I'm below Genin level at it, learn two Earth Jutsu, and make specialized traps. I want to do it by the time we compete in the Chuunin Exams."

"Isn't that kind of far away?" Mai said.

"Not really. At least one rookie competes in the Chuunin Exams every year from every village. The Densetsu no Sannin competed in the Chuunin Exams and won in their rookie year." Tenzo responded.

"Oh well okay then. We are competing to become Chuunin before Team 9. So let's have the Chuunin Exams set as a goal."

The three sat around talking and planning for the future of their Shinobi careers for a few more hours before Kido looked at his watch.

"Uh oh! Sorry guys! I gotta go! My mom wanted me home at 4:00 and it's 3:45. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Kido arrived home quickly. He unlocked the door and checked around the house, but he didn't see his mother. He walked into the kitchen and saw a note on the counter. He picked it up and began to read the neat handwriting that was his mother's.

 _Kido-kun_

 _There was an emergency at the shop and I have to be there all day. I won't get home until around 6:30. Then we'll go out and get some dinner from that ramen place that you love. Ichiraku Ramen was the name. Take a shower since I know your Sensei put you through some sort of survival exercise to see if you were good enough to become Genin of Konoha. Congratulations son!_

 _Love, Mom_

Kido smiled and set the note back down and drew an 'R' for read on bottom of the note and walked up the stairs to the bathroom. He felt a strange feeling in his gut and looked behind him. All he saw was a fist about to crash into his face. He finished the final hand seal and quickly substituted for a chair, which was destroyed by the punch. Boar looked around for his target before a kick smashed into the back of his head, sending him through a window and out to the large backyard. Boar stood up and activated the seals he had placed around Kido's house with the half Ram seal. Kido has made a break for the door, but he couldn't touch it with without being zapped rather painfully. He stood up after he had looked for a way out.

"You will find no way out. Each time you touch the barrier, you will be electrocuted. And it will only get more painful with each time someone or something touches it. The only way to break it, is for me to deactivate it. So come quietly and you won't suffer. Disobey, and you could lose your life."

"The only one dying around here is you!" Kido snarled as he drew his sword and attacked the Root ANBU. Boar also drew a wakizashi and they mixed up, clashing evenly for a bit before Kido decided to get serious. He quickly overpowered the Root member and disarmed him by coating his blade in chakra and slicing his opponent's weapon in half. Kido then got inside his guard, taking advantage of the young Root member's surprise, crouched low and kicked him in the jaw, sending him crashing through the roof. Kido quickly pursued and jumped through the hole and drove his sword into the stomach of Boar.

"Gotcha!" Kido said, but Boar turned into a puddle of water.

 _"Mizu Bunshin!"_ Kido thought.

 **"Suiton: Teppoudama no Jutsu!"** (Water Style: Liquid Bullet Jutsu)

Several balls of water flew at Kido and crashed into him and tossed him to the edge of the roof. He rose to meet the ANBU and raised his arms to block his kick just in time. He grabbed hold of Boar's leg and threw him upwards.

 **"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!** " A huge fireball was flying at the mystery ANBU but he didn't panic.

 **"Fuujutsu Kyuuin: Katon!"** (Sealing Jutsu; Absorption Seal: Fire Style) The gigantic fireball flew right into a red sealing array and disappeared.

"What the…?!" Kido said, baffled by the Jutsu he just witnessed. He got into a fighting stance as Boar landed on the roof. He ran at Kido and threw a straight punch that Kido blocked but he felt his arms getting weak and the Root ANBU threw a roundhouse kick, knocking him off the roof. He fell and rolled to his feet, shaking the awkward feeling from his arms. He stood up and saw the masked attacker closing in on him.

 **"Futon: Repushhō!"** (Wind Style: Gale Palm)

The masked assailant quickly sidestepped the Gale Palm and jumped off the roof, throwing three Shuriken from each hand. Kido flicked out a kunai and threw it at one of the Shuriken, causing it to strike the tool at the right angle and bounce off each other, causing a Shuriken to embed itself into the Root member's shoulder. He ripped the steel weapon from his arm and launched it at Kido before quickly weaving a set of hand seals.

 **"Ninpou: Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"** (Ninja Art: Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu) In an instant, one insignificant shuriken multiplied into one hundred. Kido just finished weaving his own seals after the shuriken had multiplied.

 **"Katon: Ryū Kaenhōsha-Ki!"** (Fire Style: Dragon Flamethrower) A massive torrent of flames erupted from the Kagayaki scion's hands and melted all of the oncoming shuriken, continuing on to strike the surprised ninja he was fighting. Once the flames died down, Kido saw it; a scorched log. His enemy had used the Kawarimi no Jutsu(Substitution Jutsu) to escape. Boar burst from the ground next to him aiming to punch him.

 **"Chakura Kyuuin!"** (Chakra Absorption) Boar shouted and he grabbed hold of Kido's arm. Kido didn't have all of his chakra to start with because of the True Genin Exams, him showing off some of his high level Jutsu to his teammates, and this fight didn't make things any better. As soon as he was grabbed, he felt his chakra take a huge hit.

"Y-you're stealing my chakra!"

"Yes, I am. Do you yield?"

"Hell no!" Kido roared.

He head butted Boar, wriggled free of his grasp, and then punched him in the mask with a chakra coated fist, crushing the mask and sending Boar crashing clear through a tree, knocking it down.

 _"Damn it! He stole twenty percent of my overall chakra in only five seconds! Now I only have enough for a few more Jutsu! Sorry mom, but I'll have to break the rules this time."_

Boar stood up shakily and spit out a few teeth. He noticed there was a piece of wood in his thigh. He ignored it and stood up.

"That was the wrong thing to do."

Kido saw what he looked like for the first time. He wasn't much older than himself. Maybe a a few years older. He had pale skin, black eyes, and short bright red hair. The redhead immediately dashed at him to steal more of his chakra, but Kido had formulated a plan. He threw his last kunai with an explosive tag on it right in front of Boar. It exploded as Boar jumped back.

 **"Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu!"** (Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu)

 **"Fuujutsu Kyuuin: Katon!"** Again the red sealing array absorbed his fire jutsu, but he was counting on exactly that.

 **"Shakuton: Tenchō Bakufuu no Jutsu!"** (Scorch Style: Zenith Blast Jutsu) A small orange ball of plasma about the size of a fist was launched at a high speed from Kido's palm. Boar didn't have time to dodge and it hit him at the dead center of his chest. Then it exploded in a fifteen foot radius, drying out all the trees and bushes, turning them into withered husks. Even the grass turned an ugly brown. He heard the Root member scream for only a few seconds. He knew he had hit him with his Jutsu. The Jutsu faded away, and the corpse of Boar could be seen. If you wanted to call it that.

Boar's skin had been melted halfway off, his hair was burned and falling out, and he looked as though he had been mummified. His pain filled and shocked expression told it all. He was not expecting any Shakuton Jutsu to make an appearance in the fight. An assumption that had cost him his life. Kido immediately threw up and dropped to one knee, exhaustion creeping up on him. He looked up and saw the barrier that Boar erected fall. He fought to stay conscious, not sure if Boar had any friends waiting to kidnap him. He saw two ANBU appear with his mother and and the Hokage. He knew he was safe, so he let go and unconsciousness took him.

Kido woke up a few days later in the Konoha General Hospital and saw his mother holding his hand. The Hokage was in the room talking to both his Sensei, Mai pacing nervously, Tenzo was asking Goromaru how long people usually stay in comas, and Team 9 had just walked in. He sat up and tapped her awake with his other hand. She rose her head and looked at her son in disbelief, thinking her mind was playing tricks on her.

"M-mom. What happened? How l-long was I out?" Kido said loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Oh thank Kami! Oh my little Kogeta Akachan (Scorched Baby) I was worried sick!" She said crying tears of joy into his hospital gown as she hugged him.

"Mom! All my friends are here. And I'm not a baby."

"Yes you are. You're my baby."

"Okay mom. Can someone please tell me what happened after I passed out?" The Sandaime Hokage stepped forward and spoke.

I will tell you," Hiruzen said leveling a piercing look at Kido. "But you must be completely honest when you are telling your tale, is that understood Genin Kagayaki?"

"Yes Hokage-Sama, I understand."

"Very well, you may begin."

"Well we had just finished the survival training for the True Genin Exams and my team and I were hanging out at Training Ground six after we had passed. A few hours later, I go home and see my Mom's note and go upstairs to get cleaned up, but then I get attacked by some ANBU with a Boar mask. Only I know he wasn't from here, or at least loyal because Boar is a girl in the ANBU Corps. Plus he had bright red hair. We fought, and he kept telling me to surrender and come quietly. I think he was trying to capture me. He was using Fuinjutsu and Chakra Absorbing Jutsu during the fight. I couldn't leave because he put up a barrier beforehand so I couldn't escape. He was using an elemental sealing array to absorb my Jutsu. I fooled him at the end by using my Bloodline, Shakuton, to um well, kill him. I didn't want to kill him out of bloodlust or anything, I just didn't want to be captured or killed." He said taking a deep breath.

"I used Shakuton: Tenchō Bakufuu no Jutsu layered with a Fireball Jutsu so he absorbed the Fire Jutsu, But has no time to dodge the Scorch Jutsu. After that, I checked to see if he was dead or alive. He was dead and I saw his face, then threw up. Then you guys showed up and I passed out." Kido finished.

"By the way, we're going to have to reseed the grass in the backyard and fix some damage done to the second floor window, the roof, the hallway chair needs to be replaced, since I had to substitute with it, and the living room ceiling too."

"Okay then. I'll make a plan to fix it right away." Mikan said. "Oh and since we're all here, I guess I'll tell you about our Bloodline and Clan."

Our Clan, the Kagayaki, has been around since the Warring Clans Era. We chose to fight only if attacked and we still live by that philosophy today. The ones that become ninja either go to Suna, which isn't very many, or stay to protect our village and bring in income. Most of our visitors are from Suna, or the surrounding area in the Land of Wind. We also get visitors from the Land of Stones and the Land of Rivers. We were at war with a ninja village in the Land of Birds about ten years ago and we defeated them. I think it was Dorogakure. (Hidden Mud Village)

"Wait a minute. We? Does that mean you two aren't the last ones?" Goromaru said.

"No. There are plenty of us. We have more total members than the Uchiha and Akimichi combined. But only half of us are ninja, unlike the Uchiha, who have a 75% ninja rate, or the Hyuuga who have a 92% ninja rate. We all learn the basics of Scorch Release though. Our Clan and two others with civilians share the Village that we live in, which is named Kareina Yama (Brilliant Mountain) in the Land of Wind. Most people don't know where it is exactly, since our barrier seals cloak our village and were given to us by the Uzumaki. Only Suna and our village residents know exactly where it is." He said, stopping to sip the glass of water by the bed.

"I'm sure everyone knows who Pakura of the Scorch Style, Hero of the Hidden Sand is." He said and everyone nodded. "That's my great Aunt. She died after Suna betrayed her and sent her out on a phony diplomatic mission that went sour. Now onto what Shakuton actually does. It's a fusion of Fire Style and Wind Style chakra that can only be created by Kagayaki Clan members or those with the Scorch Style Bloodline. It not only burns, and explodes, also dehydrates the target. It also requires strong chakra, not lots of chakra. The top five clans to date with the strongest chakra are the Senju, the Uzumaki, the Kagayaki, the Uchiha, and the Kaguya. But like I was saying, Shakuton also makes us immune to heat, the dehydration of Shakuton, and hot weather. I don't know much else after that, so I'll turn it over to my mom." Mikan took a deep breath and began to speak as all eyes fell on her.

"Well as you know, I'm a Shakuton User as well, but I've been a retired ninja since I became pregnant with Kido, who I had at 19. Your father was named Raimaru Uzumaki. I grew up with him and we married. We had made plans to leave Kareina Yama since we were at war with Dorogakure. I didn't want to raise Kido in an environment like that. When I was four months along, he went on a mission and he was marked Killed In Action since he was knocked into a chasm with a raging river below. I was heartbroken." She said as she wiped a tear from her eye.

Afterwards I spoke with the Kagakage (Brilliance Shadow) and the Kazekage and both of them gave me permission to go to Konoha. I told him it was unlikely that Kido would become a shinobi there. I wasn't even going to enroll him in the Ninja Academy here until you approached me about it during Kido's fifth birthday Hokage-Sama. I told him about his father and about Pakura and even about my life as a ninja for two villages. He was so eager to train, I couldn't say no. Then I enrolled him in the Academy and stepped up his training and he took to it quickly, especially Kenjutsu training. I'm mediocre with the sword at best, but Kido is a genius. It must be your Uzumaki blood. That's also why you have so much chakra. I had your levels checked again a few days ago and your reserves are now at low Kage level." She said as everyone's eyebrows raised at her information.

"I told Kido never to use his Skakuton unless I was present and gave him permission to train with it. I also informed Hokage-Sama and told him that Kido wasn't allowed to use it publicly until he was a Genin on his first B-Rank mission. Judging from the skill level of your attacker, I'd say that you just completed an A-Rank mission. You can use your Shakuton freely on missions and during training but don't advertise it. That's all the information I've got for everyone today. Please, for Kido's sake, refrain from gossiping or telling anyone about this information. I'll take you home in an hour Kido. We can go to Ichiraku Ramen the day after tomorrow. Your Senseis cancelled the meeting three days ago, but you have one tomorrow morning at 9:00am by the west side bridge."

"That reminds me. I will mark down that you completed an A-Ranked mission and I'll give you the pay tomorrow when you arrive at the Hokage Tower. For now there's some paperwork with my name on it." Hiruzen said.

Everyone continued their chatter and they talked amongst themselves for an hour. The Hokage Shunshin'd back to his office and Kido was cleared to leave the hospital. Kido went to sleep after an early dinner and dreamed about cool A-Ranked missions.

Across the village in his office, Danzo sat fuming. Boar had failed to acquire the Kagayaki child, meaning Shakuton was out of his reach for another unknown number of years, since he wouldn't dare try to capture Kido again since he would likely be discovered. Worst of all, Boar got himself killed. He wasn't expecting Kido to be able to use the Scorch Style yet, since his mother had not registered as a Konoha ninja, and no one had ever seen him use his Kekkei Genkai. Not only did Danzo lose a Root member, but he had lost a very valuable one at that.

"It took me and my partners years to find and clone an Uzumaki! All that time and effort wasted!" The Root Leader thought angrily. Someone knocked on his office door. He straightened up, closed the Kido's personal file that he had built, and swapped the scowl on his face for a piercing, stoic gaze.

"Come in." Two of his Root ANBU walked in flanking one of Danzo's partners. The man sat down and got right to the point.

"I heard what happened to your Uzumaki experiment and its failure to capture the Kagayaki brat. Naturally you'd be trying to find another way to gain the Shakuton Kekkei Genkai to cultivate and add to your ranks. Well I don't think you should try and capture the boy. I think you should befriend him and manipulate him until he either joins you, has a child that you can recruit, or make his grandchildren one of your agents. The direct approach has failed and any more attempts would only raise alarms and suspensions. We need to bide our time and wait. If I were you, I'd use that 'daughter' you have and try and push for early marriage and children. After that, make a political move and have him join the Council and reinstate his Clan in Konoha. After a time, we will be able to control his Clan and all will be easy."

Danzo leaned back in his chair and thought about it. There weren't any holes in the plan and if something unexpected occurred there were contingencies. He couldn't say no to such a good plan.

"I agree. Your plan is perfect. I will begin implementing it right away." He looked to one of the ANBU in the room.

"Bring Crane to my office immediately." The Root member nodded in affirmation and blurred away. A minute later, Crane was kneeling in front of Danzo and the mysterious partner.

"How may I serve you Lord Danzo?" She said in a soft voice.

"I have a mission for you. It's rather long term, maybe even life long."

"What will you have me do my Lord?"

"I want you to rejoin the Shinobi Ranks of Konoha and form an intimate relationship with this target." He said handing her the file on Kido that he was reading earlier. Inside was his Genin photo I.D.

"Afterwards, I want you to marry him and sire his offspring. I want regular monthly reports on my desk that detail your weekly progress with him. You will use your birth name and surname for this mission, which is Chitose Shimura. You are my daughter and that means I expect more from you and I want only success on this mission. This is for you, for me, and for the survival and good of the Hidden Leaf Village. Once you marry him, I want you to create as many children as possible with him. I will give you further instructions from there." He paused to make sure she understood. She nodded in understanding so he continued.

"Since this mission has to do primarily with emotions, I will be removing some of the restraint seals from your brain as well as the curse mark seal on your tongue that prevents you from speaking about me. You will be able to speak about me, but nothing classified and nothing about ROOT. Open your mouth and stick out your tongue." She did as she was told and her tongue was out. It had four thick black lines on it. He formed the half Ram seal and released most of the curse mark, leaving only one thick black line. She closed her mouth and bowed her head. Danzo snapped his fingers and ordered his guards to retrieve Hawk.

"How may I serve you Lord Danzo?" Hawk said in a deep voice.

"Hawk you are a Yamanaka so I want you to use your Clan's Bloodline to implant a few false memories, change some of the things she likes to eat, make her good at being a housewife, give her a few hobbies, and alter her personality. As much as I need you all to be emotionless, since emotions are a hindrance, I want you to give her back her emotions but make it so I can remove them when I see fit."

"It will be done my Lord. I only require a few minutes." Hawk said in a monotone voice.

"See this is why I like you Danzo. You know what needs to be done and you won't hesitate to get it done. Now I'll leave you to your business. I have a few errands to run and I need to complete these tasks personally. I will return to my village. Send one of your mindless Root drones if you need me." Danzo's partner said as he stood up and disappeared in a swirl of wind.

"Okay it is done Lord Danzo. She is ready."

"Perfect." Danzo said as he released the seals on her brain and sat back down.

"So how do you feel Chitose?"

"I feel a bit strange Lord Danzo."

"Since you are going to be in the regular Shinobi ranks you may remove your mask and make your hair look more feminine. Here take these clothes and go put them on." Danzo said as Hawk handed her an outfit. She went into another room and changed into it. When she came back into the office, her attire had changed.

She wore an onyx colored crop top jacket with sleeves that ended at her upper forearm over a dark grey zip up crop top that exposed her athletic midriff. She had black gloves with only the index finger removed, black hot pants with a long reverse apron skirt that reached the back of her knees, fishnet leggings, and medium length black shinobi sandals with silver shin guards similar to Anko Mitarashi's.

Her hair was an onyx color and it was previously in a ponytail, but it now hung loose with locks of hair over her forehead and reached her shoulder blades. Her eyes were dark violet and she was around fifteen years old.

"How do I look Lord Danzo?" Chitose said with a small touch of interest in her voice.

"Acceptable. And since you're my daughter, you must address me as such so you don't raise any suspicions or arouse any sort of curiosity. You will also live at my compound. You will have your own room and I will give you a stipend of money every month for non shinobi use. We are going to the Hokage's Office to get you reinstated as a Shinobi of Konoha. Hawk, I want you to inform Bird, Owl, and Cat that they are to trail Kido Kagayaki and then attack and antagonize Chitose in Kido's presence. Inform them that they are to let themselves be easily defeated and they are to use Henge no Jutsu to turn into older teenagers." Hawk nodded and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"As for you Chitose, I will take you to the Hokage Tower and convince Hiruzen to make you a Genin. We will depart in ten minutes. So be ready and clear out your area in the Barracks. Use a storage scroll."

Ten minutes later Danzo had set off for the Hokage Tower with Chitose in tow and as they were walking, Danzo began to talk.

"Very soon you will be among these people. It will be your duty to protect them and keep Konoha safe. Always remember that and let it show in your actions."

"Of course L…um Father."

They arrived at the Tower shortly and walked to Hiruzen's office. They made their way up the stairs and knocked on the office door.

"Come in." The old Sarutobi said. He was to surprised to see Danzo here.

"Well this is a surprise. Danzo, how are you?" Hiruzen asked warmly.

"I've been better Hiruzen. I'm actually here for a favor."

"Hmm…What might that be?"

"I would like it if you could place my daughter Chitose here, back on the Active Shinobi Roster as a Genin. She graduated the Academy two years ago, but I wanted to train her myself, so I had her placed on the inactive list. I'm aware that I must ask you first to have her reinstated. Is that possible?"

"Of course. I'll get her placed in a Genin Team right away. What are her strengths?"

"Ninjutsu and Ninjutsu are her strong points, while Genjutsu and Weapons are her weakest areas." Danzo said telling half of the truth.

"Okay then I'll assign her a female sensei and two male members is that alright with you?"

"Can you get her an all girls squad somehow? I don't want any boys lusting after my child Hiruzen."

"Yes of course I can make that happen there's actually a team no I think it would be team 10 then they had three female members and one of them is has died. They also have a female sensei. She'll fit in just fine since they're all entering their third year as Genin."

"That's perfect thank you Hiruzen. She will be a great asset to the village her name is Chitose Shimura. Just send an ANBU to my home informing her of her assignment and where to meet her new team."

"I will Danzo. Expect a messenger in about an hour and a half."

"I will be waiting. I shall see you at the Council Meeting in a few days." Danzo said as he vacated the office with his daughter walking beside him. He closed the door behind him and headed home.

 **I bet you weren't expecting that were you!—Pietor Rasputin/Colossus, X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse.**

 **So how'd you guys like it? Any questions or comments, just leave a review or a PM and I'll get to you. Until next time. Peace and Enjoy.**


	10. Chapter 10:Life of Genin, C-Rank Mission

**Hey guys, I'm back and not dead. I bring with me, another installment of Muddled Timeline, the only time travel FanFiction made with fresh squezzed oranges!**

 ** _What the Hell's the matter with you?! You let him get away!"_**

 ** _"You coulda tore that guy apart. Now he's gonna get away with MY money!"_**

 ** _"I missed the part where that's my problem."_**

 **Points for anyone who can get the reference.**

 **Sorry about not posting last month, I thought I broke my iPhone because it wasn't charging anymore and it was like that for three weeks until I took it to the Apple Store in the mall and they said there was lint in the charging port. At least I didn't have to pay anything.**

 ** _NHHY99– Yep it's Chitose. Your review made me laugh a bit._**

 ** _Shodai Uzukage- Naruto Uzumaki—_ Yes Danzig has a daughter. Who knows? He may or may not get what's coming to him. Maybe his plans succeed? **

**_ShadowDeathSkull—_ Thank you my friend. I'm back, and I will be continuing my writing. I'm glad you're enjoying it. **

**_Bloody Dragon Fang—_ Yes! The coldest and the most evil! **

**Remember to vote on my Chuunin Exams Poll and to leave Reviews/PM me if you've got any questions about the story.**

 **I'm still taking a few OC ideas for the story. Just send me a bio of your character and a clothing discription and I'll see what we can do from there.**

 **So without further ado...Chapter 10, in color!**

 ** _Chapter 10: The Life of a Genin, C-Rank Mission_**

"This is Scorch, I see the target."

"Have you confirmed it's identity via description?"

"Yes. White and brown, golden plate in its left ear bearing the red Fire symbol, and a bell around its neck. This is Tora. I'm in position. What is your status Spectacles?"

"I'm on the ground in position. I'm ready to establish a blockade."

"Understood. Violet, what's your status?"

"I'm perched above the target in position, ready to cut off the target's retreat."

"Affirmative, Telescope, Team Leader, this is Scorch, all members awaiting orders."

"Alright. Make your Move Team 6!"

Kido quietly approached the target and leapt at it once he was ten yards away. Even though Kido was fast, the cat was somehow faster. He missed the grab as the target leapt over his outstretched hands. Tenzo revealed himself and put himself in the cat's path.

"Doton: Doryrūheki!" Tenzo slammed a hand onto the ground and a ten foot wall of earth rose up behind him. The cat skidded to a halt and darted down a nearby alley. Tenzo slammed his hands down again and an Mud Wall was erected in the middle of the alley. Tora stopped, unsure of what to do next. That's when Mai took that as her cue to move in and she jumped off the roof of a nearby building and bounced off of Tenzo's Mud Wall. She scooped up the wayward feline and rolled to her feet. The cat wiggled around, trying to break free of Mai's grasp until she began to pet him softly. Tora began to purr appreciatively at her touch. Kido walked up to her and congratulated her.

"Wow Mai! That was cool! This is the third time you've caught him by yourself. You're super awesome!"

"Th-thanks Kido-kun." Mai said as she blushed from his praise.

"Yes it is very interesting to see that Tora isn't attempting to scratch or bite you. Kido, make sure to tell Sensei the mission is complete."

"Oh right! Team Leader, Telescope, this is Scorch. Mission Accomplished. The target was caught by Violet. Our plan worked like a charm."

"Good job. We'll meet you at the Hokage Tower and go return Tora to Madam Shijimi." Naruto said over the radio link.

"Okay guys, let's head to the Tower." As they were walking to the Tower, Kido tried to pet Tora and it hissed at him. He drew his hand back quickly, not wanting to suffer another bite or scratch. It had been three weeks since their first official team meeting and first mission, which was painting a fence.

"What kinda mission is painting a fence? That sounds like a job for, well a painter or a ten year old trying to make some pocket money." Kido asked in confusion.

"It's to help build teamwork and positive relations with the villagers. We all have to do it. It's like a rite of passage. The bigger stuff will come later, I promise." Naruto said.

"Okay Sensei. I understand, everyone has to do it and that includes Team 6."

"Hmm…Guys, I don't know about you, but I'm really getting bored of these D-Rank missions." Mai said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah so am I. We should get a C-Rank, ooh or a B-Rank mission! Now that would be awesome!"

"It would be nice to undertake other missions, but not a B-Rank just yet." Tenzo replied.

"Heh I guess not. Soon though. We'll be going on B-Ranks in no time!"

"There's Haruto-Sensei and Hikari-Sensei. Maybe we should ask them and Hokage-Sama once we return Tora."

"Sounds good to me." Kido said and Mai agreed.

"So Hinata, do you think it's time?"

"Absolutely. Plus I think they've become restless like most Genin would. In fact I think they might even be talking about asking for a C-Rank right now."

They met with their Senseis and walked to the Mission Office. Between D-Ranks, Training, a team outing or two, and Hikari's special Blindfolded Teamwork Training, they hadn't had much time to socialize with other teams. All they knew was that they had completed twenty of those dreadful D-Rank missions and they wanted something better. They arrived at the Mission Office after entering the Tower. Hiruzen was sorting some mission Reports and Tenten was reading off the names of some Chuunin who were due back from a C-Rank Mission. Once they entered, Madam Shijimi saw Tora and her brown eyes lit up with unrestrained joy.

"OH MY SWEET TORA!!" She squealed as she hugged the Tabby cat with a vice-like grip, squeezing the life out of the cat. Everyone in the Mission Office winced as they saw Tora being crushed. He hollered and tried to escape but the wife of the Fire Daimyo was too strong for the small cat.

"I'm never letting you out my sight again my sweet Tora! Hiruzen, make sure these ninja are paid handsomely for reuniting my Tora and I." She said as she vacated the Office cuddling Tora. Tenten spoke up as she held a pile of D-Rank missions.

"So are you guys here for another D-Rank Mission? If so, I've got some lawns that need cutting, a few elderly people who want some company, and a gardener who—." Tenten droned on until Kido interrupted her.

"What?! No way, Daisuke!(No way, Jose!)I'm not doing another crappy D-Rank Mission! You can forget it. We've done twenty D-Ranks in three weeks and we've caught that demonic cat, Tora seven times! We should get a real mission! You know, something to challenge us. We want a C-Rank Mission." Only Lee, Neji, and Gai knew this about one of Tenten's biggest pet peeves; being cut off while speaking, especially when she was older than them. Kido had zero knowledge of this, but was about to be on the receiving end of a verbal tongue lashing.

"Shut your trap you green as grass Genin! We all had to do them, and now it's your turn! Besides, what makes you think you, let alone your team is enough to handle a C-Rank or B-Rank mission? Wanting to have something isn't enough in the Ninja World. People in Hell want ice water but they can't have it! And do your teammates share your feelings towards D-Ranks?"

"Uh duh!" Tenten's eyebrow twitched at the Scorch Style user's flippant tone of voice.

"Of course they do or I would've kept my mouth shut. We can for sure handle a C-Rank Mission. I don't know about a B-Rank. Maybe with Haruto-Sensei and Hikari-Sensei then we could, but for now we want a C-Rank Mission." Kido said as Mai and Tenzo nodded in agreement. Tenten looked at Naruto and Hinata and then to Hiruzen and they all nodded in approval.

"Okay then. The Hokage and your two Sensei seem to think that you can handle yourself outside the walls on a C-Rank mission, so I'll give you one." She said looking through her papers.

"Aha. This one will be perfect. Team Six, you are to go to the Land of Fields Hidden Village Kusagakure (Hidden Grass Village) and escort a civilian convoy carrying weapons to a nearby distribution facility in The Land of Fire. Once you reach the village, go and speak to the village's leader, Shouta Kareha, the Sandaime Oda. He will explain his parameters further. This map will get you there and to the facility. Expect bandits, and maybe some low Genin level ninja, if any. You need to get to the Distribution Facility by Saturday. It is Monday so you should leave today to give yourself some leisure time and walk time."

"Okay guys. Let's meet at the West Gate in one hour. Pack for a two week trip. Just in case." Naruto said.

"Awesome! A C-Rank Mission!" Kido cheered. "Let's go get ready to rock guys!"

Once Team Six exited the Tower, they split up and went to their own homes to gather their supplies for their C-Rank Mission. The Kagayaki boy quickly made it home and gathered his sleeping scroll and his food scroll. It was a set of storage scrolls he bought last week that held his sleeping bag, pajamas, and a tent. The food scroll held dry foods like cup ramen, bread, and dried fruit. His mom was at the shop so he scribbled out a note for her, taped it to the fridge, and left.

He had gotten everything he needed rather quickly so he decided to take the scenic route to get to the West Gate. He walked through one of the small forested areas of Konoha Central Park to take in the scenery and enjoy the and heard a bit of commotion, then he heard a loud scream. He came running and saw a girl around his age with dark hair and and violet colored eyes being held by her hair with tears in her eyes. Two boys and a girl were surrounding her with one of them holding a fistful or her hair.

"Let me go!" She shouted.

"No way you little punk! We're gonna hurt you bad!"

"It was a training session! Why are you attacking me?"

"Shut up!" He said kicking her in the ribs. We ask the questions here not you!" Kido had seen enough. He walked into the clearing and threw a rock at the Leader's face to get his attention.

"What the…!"

"Hey you overgrown ape, leave her alone!"

"Oh I see…you want to get your ass kicked too then huh!"

"If you don't leave I'll crush all of you."

"Yeah right! Bring it on loser!"

Kido jumped in and made short work of the three Genin. They stood up and ran away, scared of getting beaten up anymore. Kido walked to the girl, who looked as if she was trying to reach something on her back.

"Hi I'm Kido Kagayaki, Genin of Konoha. What's your name?"

"Chitose Shimura, Genin of Konoha as well. It's nice to meet you, and thanks for helping me. They were going to beat me up, and then cut off my hair. I would've fought back, but they stuck a chakra sealing tag on my back so my chakra is blocked off.

"Do you need any help removing it?"

"Yes, I can't reach it. Could you take it off for me Kido-kun?" She said sweetly.

"Umm…I don't really see anything on your…" He said trailing off as she took off her jacket and pulled her hair over her shoulder, exposing her pale back. Kido gulped as he grabbed the seal and pulled it off.

"It's o-off." He stammered out.

"Thank you Kido-kun. I feel so much better than before."

"Ahem…so why were they trying to hurt you and cut off your hair?"

"Because I beat one of them in a spar." The Root agent lied expertly.

"Cowards!"

"You're telling me. They were all fighting me and then one of them snuck up behind me and slapped that stupid chakra suppression seal on my back. It was really draining and I'm glad that it's off. Well it was nice meeting you Kido-kun. I'll see you around."

"Wait!" Kido shouted. She turned around and waited for him to speak.

"You said your last name was Shinura right? Where have I heard that before?"

"My father is Danzo Shimura. He is head of the ANBU Black Ops division and is a Village Elder as well as being old teammates with the Sandaime Hokage."

"Wow really? Is he strong?"

"Of course he is! No one except maybe the Sandaime Hokage is his equal in the Ninja Arts!" She said a bit forcefully. She quickly reined in her sharp tone as soon as it surfaced. Kido didn't seem to notice.

"Wow you're super lucky! Your dad sounds awesome! You must be really strong!"

"Yes of course but he's off conducting business or at a council meeting most times so I don't see him very much and my mother is no longer with us. She disappeared on a mission on day and never returned. I was only three years old."

"I know how you feel, believe me. I lost my father before I was even born." Kido spoke softly.

"You know, I don't have very many friends and I usually train alone since my teammates get clan training. Would you like to train with me sometime? I would love to impress my father with a new Jutsu or something." Chitose said coyly as she twisted a lock of her long black locks.

"Sure that sounds great! I've got to go on a C-Rank mission right now, but when I come back in two weeks I'll tell you all about it while we train. Oops! Don't wanna be late! See ya Chitose!"

"Okay have a good first C-Rank mission Kido-kun." She said as he took off into the trees headed in the direction of the West Gate. Twenty minutes later, Kido arrived at the West Gate where he saw Naruto, Hinata, and Tenzo. He looked around the area, but didn't see Mai at all.

"Hey guys, where's Mai at?"

"I'm not sure Kido. If she's not here in ten minutes I'll go look for her." Naruto said.

"That's okay Haruto-kun. I'll go look for her with my Byakugan, it'll be faster than your Kage Bunshin. I'm not sure why she's taking so long though." Hinata said. In reality, she knew the exact reason that Mai was late. She quickly took to the rooftops and arrived at the Kurosawa residence. She looked into the window using her Byakugan and saw exactly what she thought she would see. The Hyuuga princess princess used a quick Shunshin to teleport into Mai's room. Mai was so engrossed in what she was doing, she didn't even see or hear her sensei teleport into the room.

"It's nice to see that your putting a lot of though into your choice of sleepwear."

"EEEAAAHHH!" Mai screamed. The scream had prompted her mother and brother to burst into her room after a few seconds with kunai drawn, only to see the youngest Kurosawa family member's Sensei standing near the window and Mai clutching a green colored set of her usual sleepwear.

"Sorry dear, we thought you screamed because you were hurt. This must be one of your sensei. Hikari am I right?"

"Yes that's me. I would love to talk more Mrs. Kurosawa, but I've got to help Mai here finish packing for the mission and we're already late."

"Oh that's alright. Take your time and good luck on your first C-Rank mission Mai."

"Eh heh…th-thanks mom, thanks Goromaru." Mai said weakly as her family left the room and closed the door.

"S-sensei, what are you doing here?"

"Well I knew you were having a sleepwear issue, so I decided to help you out."

"I-I'm not—! I mean…well, um…how did you know?" Mai squeaked out.

"I had the same issue when I was a Genin on my first mission. Luckily my Sensei was female and came and helped me sort myself out and get ready in time. So I'm going to do the same for you. It can be a bit difficult picking out sleepwear when you are going on a mission with two boys your age." Hinata said before smiling warmly and placing a hand on Mai's shoulder and adding.

"Especially if you happen to be romantically interested in one of them." Mai started at Hinata in shock.

"W-what?! I've got no idea what you're talking about."

Hinata just smiled at her Genin student and uttered one name.

"Kido Kagayaki." Mai blushed heavily and buried her face in her hands.

"How did you know sensei?"

"I can see the signs. The blushing, the extra effort, and even the slight change in posture you have when he's around. I had, or actually still have the same telltale signs as you do." Hinata sighed dreamily as she thought of her blonde haired Co-Sensei and would-be Hokage.

"You're in love with Haruto-Sensei aren't you?"

"W-well…y-yes I am. I've loved him ever since I was 11 years old. It started out as a crush, but it grew into something more. He inspired me to change and become stronger and he still inspires me today. We've had so many adventures and missions together, but I…haven't been able to talk to him about it."

"It's okay sensei. I've been friends with Kido-kun for six years and I've wanted to tell him about my feelings since our third year at the Academy, but I think he's oblivious to how that sort of thing works."

"I'm going to help you out with your boy problem. I'll have a talk with Kido and Tenzo about the female anatomy, although Tenzo might not need it, and Haruto will talk to them about the male anatomy. Did they skip the sexual education courses at the Academy?"

"Um no. They are only given to the girls to reduce pregnancies since its wartime. The boys just got a free period. They even taught us the Contraceptive Jutsu." Mai said as she put ten more kunai and shuriken into her weapons pouch.

"Oh…well okay then. I guess that's why he doesn't know about that. I doubt Kido's mother told him about it. She is very protective of him and I can see why."

"Yeah she is. I wasn't allowed over to Kido-kun's house until a year or so after I met him and that was for his birthday celebration."

"By the way, just wear whatever you usually sleep in. It's only a t-shirt and small shorts right?" Hinata advised.

"Yes, but most times I don't wear the shorts because it feels like I'm still in my mission gear."

"So just wear them until you lay in your sleeping bag. Then you can remove them after everyone has gone to sleep. Or use a Henge."

"Ooh that's smart. Why didn't I think of that? Anyway I guess I'll just do that. Sensei, what do I do if another girl is interested in Kido-kun? He has really great qualities. I mean he's very handsome and strong, as well as kind and sweet, but I'm just…" Mai said in exasperation.

"I don't know. I feel like sometimes I'm invisible to him, even though we're best friends. Then there's days where it's almost like we're dating. The night we became Genin, he gave me an awesome specialty kunai that he said was for emergencies. He said it was our six year anniversary of being best friends. It was so sweet. I though get for sure that he was going to kiss me or something. He even shifted forward a bit…but then he settled back and told me goodnight before jumping away.

"Don't worry about it. Judging from the way your classmates treat him, no one is coming after him romantically for a few years or until he gets popular as a ninja. By that time, you'll already be dating him."

"What about you Sensei? How are you going to get Haruto-Sensei to like you?"

"Uhm…I actually don't know. I'm having a friend help me out with my boy problems." Hinata shyly admitted.

"Let's cheer each other on then Sensei." Mai said.

"Of course. I'll be rooting for you. Now let's get moving Mai. We're already twenty minutes late."

"Whoops! Sorry about that Hikari-Sensei. Let's go through the front door so my mom knows I'm gone." Mai suggested. They ran down the stairs and said their goodbyes to Yuka and Goromaru before taking to the rooftops and sprinting back towards the West Gate of Konoha to regroup with their teammates. They landed fifteen yards from the West Gate entrance after ten minutes of top speed roof running. Kido was the first one to see them since he was looking around for them every thirty seconds.

"Finally! What took you guys so long?" Kido said.

Mai noticed something strange as she and Team 6's blue haired Sensei walked to the group. When she got closer, she began to laugh at Kido's joke.

The green and orange haired teen had used the Henge no Jutsu to turn himself into an old man. He completed the look with liver spots, a shaggy beard, a receding hairline, and wrinkles worse than the oldest Village Elders. The other three members of Team 6 looked at Kido and began to laugh as well. They enjoyed a good laugh for a minute before Naruto brought them back into focus.

"Okay guys we should move out. We need to get to Kusagakure within a set time period. We'll be tree running there. In order to make it to Kusagakure on time, we'll need to move a certain distance and take breaks to eat and rest. We'll set up camp at night when we've travelled a sufficient distance for that day. We'll be doing a bit of light training along the way. Think of it as a training challenge. Do you guys have any questions?"

No one said a thing so after ten seconds Hinata spoke up.

"Well then, since there aren't any questions about the mission, let's move out Team 6."

Team 6 walked out of the West Gate of Konoha and into the sea of trees that was all around their village. They began their trek to Kusagakure, all three of the Genin ready and willing to prove themselves in a fight. They walked in silence for a few short miles before the Kagayaki scion broke the silence, speaking in an awe filled tone of voice about the scenery.

"There sure are a lot of trees out here. It must be why they call it the Hidden Leaf Village."

"Yeah my brother Goromaru told me the forests around Konoha stretch onward for hundreds of miles." Mai added.

"Hmm…I wonder why the heck we call them Hidden Villages now if everyone knows where they are and can find them?"

"I am unsure of the answer, but I think the names just stuck." Tenzo said while he pushed up his glasses.

"I guess that's a normal reason. I wouldn't want to change the name of an entire Village either. Hey Tenzo, don't take this the wrong way, and I'm not making fun of the way you talk, but why do you speak with such a high vocabulary or in other words, like an Aburame?"

The bispecticled ninja peered over the top of his glasses for a moment, slightly stunned at the question from his teammate.

"Well it's because my mother is an Aburame. Actually Akio and I are second cousins. When she married my father, naturally, she took his name and moved out of the Aburame Compound, but she visits frequently and goes to refill her colony. My father and mother met each other in the Konoha Code Analisys Department and they were taken with each other. My father didn't even mind the Aburame Kikai Beetles, unlike most of the population of Konoha, he thought they were very interesting. I have my mother's personality most times, but my father's personality shows when I'm in a high emotion situation."

"Wait a minute. If you're an Aburame, why don't you have any Kikai Bugs or the trademark pitch black sunglasses that the Aburame Clan is famous for wearing?"

"A sensible question, I do not have a colony because my chakra wasn't accepted by the Kikai Insects. As it turns out, my father's chakra is repulsive to the Beetles, as is mine. As for the sunglasses, I cannot tell you the full explanation, but I need these eyeglasses to see."

"Okay I never knew any of that. That's pretty interesting Tenzo." Kido said. They continued their talk until they had stopped to set up camp for the night. They made camp in a grassy clearing off the main road.

"Okay guys, I brought some ramen with me in case you guys didn't pack any food. So choose a flavor, I'll boil the water and you guys can eat up."

"Wow! Thanks Sensei!" The three Genin said as they separated their chopsticks and in three minutes, they were happily digging into their ramen.

"That was very sweet of you Naruto-kun. I know how much you love ramen." Hinata whispered into the cerulean eyed teenager's ear.

"Yeah I do love ramen. It's the food of the gods, but what kind of guy would I be if I hogged it all for myself."

"Hmm…I never thought of it that way. I guess you're right."

"Hey Haruto-Sensei, how cool is it to be the the brother of the Kiiroi Senkou(Yellow Flash)?

Naruto quickly slurped up some noodles and finished the mouthful of food before answering.

"It's pretty cool actually. But sometimes it can be a bit…troublesome." Naruto explained, deciding to throw in Shikamaru's favorite word.

"How so?" Mai asked as she drank the last of the shrimp flavored ramen broth.

"Well it's kinda tough to have to live up to the fame and skill that my brother has garnered so far. It's also really annoying to be mistaken for him on missions."

"Oh Okay. I can see why that would be troublesome for you to have to deal with. Especially on the battlefield." Mai replied as she put the empty ramen cup into the fire.

"I guess we'll be in the same boat once people start figuring out that I'm related to Pakura of the Scorch Style. I'll have to fill some big shoes and they'll want me to rebuild my Clan right away."

"You can do it though. I have zero doubts about that." Tenzo said as he tilted his spectacles a few times, then removed them so he could clean the dirt and smudges from the lenses.

"Hikari-Sensei, I know you're from the Hyuuga Clan and they deal with all those big Clan laws. How would I establish the Kagayaki Clan in Konoha? And how would I start rebuilding my clan?"

"Well to establish the Kagayaki Clan as a major Clan here in Konoha, you have to be a Jounin and make a point to the Hokage why and how your clan would benefit Konoha. Then you'd have to win in an appeal to the Village Council with a clear majority vote. Which is 55% or more. That will get you onto the Konoha Council. Then you'd have to come up with a set amount of funds to begin your Clan here. The Hokage will help you out with the rest."

"Wow…that's a ton of stuff to get done. And I gotta be a Jounin…oh boy. I guess I've got some work to do. How do I start rebuilding my Clan?"

"Oh well I think you'd have to have someone write up a marriage contract for you and start producing heirs within a year. You can utilize the CRA, or Clan Restoration Act. I don't know much about it, but I do know it saved the Yamanaka Clan when the Nidaime Hokage was in power. I'm pretty sure it will work for you too."

"Okay awesome! I'll go do some research when we get back to Konoha at the Shinobi Library. Do you guys want to come with me while I do my research for the Clan Restoration Act?"

"I see no harm in doing so."

"O-okay I'd love to go with you and help you study." The youngest Kurosawa said to her best friend.

"Great! Then we'll go as a team!"

Everyone had finished eating their ramen and put their cups in the fire before Naruto announced bedtime.

"Okay guys, it's time to hit the hay. We're getting up early tomorrow morning at 7:00 am so we can do a bit of training and see how far you've progressed. Then we'll set out after 10:00 am. But for now, set up this tent, go get changed, and get a good night's rest. Hikari and I will be alternating on guard duty. I'll take the first shift." The Blonde Jounin spoke as he unsealed a tent and handed it to the three Genin. Kido and Tenzo had the large tent set out in a flash.

Mai gulped audibly when she heard the words 'get changed' and began to get nervous. Tenzo easily picked up on her anxiety and came to her aid.

" Hey Kido. Perhaps it's a better idea to let Mai go into the tent and change first while we change out here." Kido was unresponsive for a second, but then it came to him.

"Oh right! She probably needs her lady time or whatever."

"Lady time? What do you mean by that?" Hinata asked curiously.

"Oh, well that's what my mom calls it. Sometimes it takes awhile though. I heard her shouting in her room once when I was 11 and I asked her about it the next morning and that's what she told me. I guess it's some sort of training?"

Hinata's face turned a crimson red at the thought of what Kido's mother was doing. She quickly dismissed the image from her head and spoke up once again.

"Uhm Kido-kun, has your mother given you 'The Talk' yet?"

"Uh what's that?"

"So that's a no then. What about you Tenzo-kun?"

"Yes, my father and mother gave it to me a year ago."

"Okay then. We'll have to fix that Kido-kun. Haruto-kun and I will give you 'The Talk' later on in the morning."

"Is it like some kind of secret shinobi code or something?"

"No, no, nothing like that. It's a special talk that everyone gets. It usually gets given by parents, but in this case, I think you should be told now. And by now, I mean tomorrow morning before training."

"Okay, I can't wait!" The young teen said excitedly.

"Okay, go change and get some rest."

Kido and Tenzo stood outside the tent and changed clothes. Tenzo was wearing a simple light grey button up bed shirt, and matching bed pants. Kido was wearing a short sleeve violet tee shirt, a black pair of bed pants, and a dark grey sleeping cap with a white ball at the end that looked like a panda was resting atop his head.

"Hey Mai, are you finished with your lady time?"

"Huh? If you're asking if I'm finished ch-changing then yes, I'm finished and you can come into the tent."

"Okay cool." Kido said as he walked into the tent. Mai was wearing a light green sleeveless shirt with spaghetti straps, and a pair of form fitting black shorts. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail with a few strands hanging loose instead of her usual long pigtails. Everyone unfurled their sleeping bags and laid them out on the soft grass.

"Goodnight Mai, goodnight Tenzo!"

"Goodnight Kido-kun."

"Goodnight Kido."

And with their goodnight calls, they drifted into a enjoyable sleep. Their Senseis, however, were still up talking with each other and guarding the campsite.

"The moon is very pretty tonight Naruto-kun."

"Yeah it's really nice…Hey Hinata?"

"Yes Naruto-kun?"

"What do you suppose we should do when we become Genin again? And what about the teams? And the Uchiha insurrection And the Chuunin Exams with Neji? How am I supposed to…!" He uttered in a calm voice that quickly turned panic stricken.

"Shush Naruto-kun, you'll wake our Genin." Hinata spoke in calming tones.

"Everything will be alright. We just need to take it one step at a time. First we train our Genin, then we handle the big stuff. We've already rescued Obito, thereby removing a major ally from Madara's pocket. Just remember that you don't have to do this all by yourself. I'll be supporting you every step of the way."

"R-right. Sorry, I'm just worried about what could happen in the future."

"It's okay. That's natural. By the way, since we're talking about natural things, I thought it would be appropriate to let you know that Kido-kun hasn't gotten 'The Talk' from his mother yet. I think it'll be best if we give it to him tomorrow, before training. You can give him 'The Talk' together. I'll tell him about the female anatomy and you can tell him about the male anatomy. Is that alright with you?"

"Yeah sure. I can do that. And Hinata…thanks." The blonde Jounin said as he created two clones that walked to the far side of the clearing to keep watch.

"No problem Naruto-kun." She replied, walking back to her own area to rest before her watch began.

At 7:00 am the Sun was beginning to rise into the sky and with it, brought the sounds of birds singing, which woke Kido up. He changed his clothes and got ready to have The Talk with his two Sensei, whatever that meant. Kido saw that both of the Jounin were awake and he ran right up to them.

"Good morning guys! Can we have that cool Talk thing now?"

They both looked at the Genin and shrugged their shoulders before leading him a bit farther from the tent. Once they were situated, Naruto cleared his throat.

"So Kido…do you know what makes a girl and a boy different?"

About an hour later, Kido was sitting on the grass, dumbstruck. All that fan girl stuff that Hotaka, Ryota, and even Tenzo had to deal with suddenly made sense. He began to see everything and everyone in a whole new light.

"If you have questions, ask Haruto or I. We'll help you out. Do you have any questions?"

"Just a few. Umm…well you said when girls have…um, well that is, when they are…nevermind. I'll just go get the other two and start warming up." He said, feeling embarrassed and defeated.

After an thirty minutes of light exercise between the three Genin, Naruto and Hinata decided it was time to begin some light sparring.

"Okay guys. I want to see your fighting skills. You'll be sparring against your teammates. Since we're still on a mission, don't get too crazy. No Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. Only Taijutsu and weapons. It's best two out of three. So who wants to go first?"

Usually Kido's hand would've shot up into the air at the opportunity to spar against his teammates, but his head was clouded with the newly acquired information about puberty. So Tenzo had volunteered and Tenzo was selected. He was paired with Kido, who stretched his arms and legs and slid into his stance. Tenzo did the same and they waited for Hinata to signal the start of the match.

"Are you ready? 3...2...1… BEGIN!" The blue haired kunoichi said leaping away. Tenzo immediately rushed forward and threw a flurry of punches, all of which were blocked. Kido ducked under a high kick that was aimed at his head and kicked Tenzo in his ribs, causing him to fly a few feet away. He landed on his side but rolled to his feet.

"That's a point for Kido-kun. You may resume." Hinata called out as the two teammates resettled into their stances.

The bespectacled ninja launched himself at Kido with a powerful flying kick. Kido blocked it and overwhelmed Tenzo with a rapid series of strikes that caused the emerald eyed boy to lose his balance. Kido then sweep kicked him and he fell, marking the end of the spar.

"Okay then. Next up is Mai versus Tenzo. The same rules apply from the last spar, so be ready for a good Taijutsu mix up. 3…2…1… BEGIN!"

Mai jumped forward, quickly putting Tenzo on the defensive and throwing a mix of punches and kicks, before she feinted an uppercut. She sold it well enough to fool her visually impaired teammate and spun around, landing a well placed roundhouse kick to Tenzo's jaw.

"One point, Mai."

They retook their positions and raced towards each other. Tenzo blocked Mai's kick and parried her fist. He quickly drew a kunai and took a few swipes at the teen girl. She drew her kunai, but had it knocked out of her hand since she was off balance. She ducked a slash from Tenzo but received a strong kick to the midsection that ended the mix up.

"One point, Tenzo."

They once again took their positions and waited for the call. Once the call was heard, Mai threw two shuriken at Tenzo and began to press forward, knocking his kunai away from him and wearing down his defenses with hard punches and kicks. She broke through his guard with a kick to the arms and jumped up and punched him in the side of his forehead. He stumbled back and fell down, dazed from such a strong punch.

Tenzo sighed and got up, while speaking in an exasperated voice.

"It looks like my Taijutsu has not improved whatsoever."

"Your Taijutsu has been improving. It might be a bit slow, but you'll get it down soon." Mai said encouragingly. Mai wiped a bit of sweat from her brow as she looked into the sky at the mid morning sun.

"Ah it's getting a bit hot." She unzipped her tunic to cool herself off, exposing her fishnet shirt underneath. Kido was trying his best not to stare, but he noticed Mai's larger than normal chest due to the 'Talk' he had with his two Senseis. He was beginning to wonder how long had it been bigger than the other girls' chests.

"Okay, now for Kido and Mai. Afterwards, we'll have a light cooldown, and then we'll head out. Are you two ready? BEGIN!"

Mai attacked quickly, taking advantage of her distracted opponent. She leapt at him and put him on the defensive. The green haired youth ducked under a spinning backfist, only to catch a knee strike to the chest.

"That's a point for Mai."

The two Genin stood in front of each other and acted on Naruto's call. Mai engaged him in a light mix up and maneuvered Kido to where he was close to a tree. She created ten yards of separation space between them and then drew eight shurikens and tossed them wide at Kido. For a moment, they looked to be poorly thrown, until she raked her hands through the air, revealing that the shurikens that were connected to nigh invisible Ninja Wire that nearly tied him to a tree. He shook his distracted state of mind off long enough to see the wires nearly tie him to the tree that was behind him and drew his sword, slicing downward to cut the cords. The shurikens fell to the ground like scattered leaves and Kido lunged forward and punched Mai the shoulder as she tried to avoid the attack.

"One point, Kido. Okay, once more. BEGIN!"

Kido and Mai ran at each other and began launching a series of kicks and punches at one another before Mai drew two kunai and Kido unsheathed his katana. They once again clashed with each other in a ring of steel. They both tried to press the offensive, but only succeeded in blocking one another's attempts to end the spar. Kido clashed with Mai and began to overpower her. She pushed back with all her might, but Kido was stronger. Kido, however, suddenly let go of the pressure he was putting on Mai and sidestepped out of the way of her stumbling body. At the last second, he reached out, grabbed Mai's arm, and slammed her into the ground, effectively ending the spar.

"Good job you three. Tenzo, your Taijutsu isn't at Genin level, but you can make up for it with your analytical skills. Mai, your Taijutsu is around Chuunin level, but your strength is an issue we need to work on. Kido, you're at low Jounin in Taijutsu, but you lack the experience to be a Jounin level fighter in the Taijutsu category. Continue working hard and you'll see the fruits of your training sooner than your peers." Naruto instructed. They completed their light cooldown and packed up and continued on to Kusagakure.

Along the way, they spotted a broken down merchant cart on the side of the road with a woman a few years older than Kushina, and a child around the age of the present Genin standing near it. The woman saw the ninja walking towards her and she began to wave her arms in the air, trying to signal Team 6. Kido looked at his two Senseis and silently asked them if he and the other two should proceed. The two Jounin nodded and the Genin of Team 6 approached the two civilians while they hung back and watched.

As the Genin walked up to her, Kido cleared his throat and began to speak.

"So what seems to be the trouble ma'am?"

"Oh, thank Kami you're here!" The woman shouted, as she threw her hands up. As soon as she did that, a group of bandits dropped from the surrounding trees and surrounded the young Genin trio.

"Ha ha! We got 'em now boys!" The woman shouted to her fellow compatriots. Kido looked around at the group of petty criminals. There was twenty-five of them.

"He he, they're just a few of Konoha's brats! We should just kill them and keep the girl for ourselves! No, we should keep all of them as slaves, then when we've had our fun, we should sell them to someone else for a huge payoff!" The woman said eagerly.

"I know a guy in Water Country who works for a guy that owns a huge shipping company. He'll definitely want the girl and possibly the boys too." A man said. Kido had heard enough.

"You idiots are talking like you've already captured us. You petty crooks are no match for Konoha Genin."

"I'd shut up if I were you! We outnumber you twenty-seven to three!" A random bandit shouted cockily.

"You may have us outnumbered, but I can kill hundreds of ants with a stomp of my foot." Mai retorted.

"It would be in your best interests to just leave us alone." Tenzo said as he pushed his glasses up at the nose.

"Bah! Whatever, let's just capture them and shut them all up."

"We warned you." Kido said as he unsheathed his sword, Mai drew two kunai held in the reverse grip, Tenzo pulled out a handful of shuriken, and the bandits brandished various weapons.

"ATTACK!" The bandits shouted all at once. The three Genin had spread out to give themselves ample room to fight in.

Mai surveyed the nine opponents that were in front of her. She blocked an overhead club smash with one kunai, and sliced the offender's chest open with the other kunai. She rolled away from another club smash and lunged at the man, kicking him in the head and bouncing off him and slamming into another bandit with two kunai that pierced his gut. Gaining some distance, she formed a few hand seals for a Jutsu.

"Suiton: Mizudeppō no Jutsu!" (Water Style: Water Gun Jutsu)

The blonde haired kunoichi fired off a small, thumb sized water bullet that tore through the shoulder of two men, leaving them injured and bleeding. She then threw a barrage of shuriken that felled three of the four remaining attackers. The final one rushed at her with a pair of curved daggers. Mai drew two more kunai and met up the middle, clashing with him. Although the man was full grown, he had no idea how to skillfully utilize his daggers and Mai had put him down swiftly.

Tenzo has jumped into the forested area and saw his attackers running towards him.

"Okay. I've got to take out the bigger guys first, since my Taijutsu is subpar at the moment."

He threw a handful of shuriken that struck true, incapacitating four of the seven men that had come after him. He quickly drew a kunai and jumped onto a bandit driving a kunai into his back. He was smacked away by another burly man.

"Ouch! That really hurt!" The blue haired Genin thought.

He quickly rose from his side to face the two bandits. He threw three kunai into the body of the one who had smacked him, killing the man. He jumped over the other bandit and formed a few hand seals.

"Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu!" (Earth Style: Inner Decapitation Jutsu)

Tenzo travelled underground quickly, then grabbed the final bandit's leg and pulled him underground. He emerged and kicked the bandit in the face, knocking him out.

Kido only moved back fifteen feet from his original spot. He decided to taunt the criminals with a baiting 'come and get me' motion. It worked as a few of them rushed him. He leapt back forming seals.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" (Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu)

Six of the eleven men were instantly charbroiled by Kido's fireball. He had the other five scattered and he attacked the three closest to him, taking them down with a series of painful punches and kicks. The boy his age rushed at him with a kusagarma in hand. Kido blocked a few slashes with his katana before he cut the boy down. The woman stood up and pulled a blade from an umbrella. She engaged Kido in a fierce sword battle but Kido's speed alone had her outclassed overall. In the end, he sunk his blade into her chest, ending the confrontation. Team Six's Sensei reappeared near their Genin. They looked around at the carnage their students created.

"Well you three certainly handled that well. Are you three okay?"

Kido nodded, although he was green in the face. The other two had just thrown up the ration bars and fruit they ate this morning. After they finished vomiting, they couldn't look at the scene any longer so they moved away from it.

"I know your first kill is the hardest to deal with, so if you need to talk to someone, we're here for you and we'll help you guys out." The blue eyed shinobi related to his Genin charges. They all nodded and they got back on the road. Tenzo spoke first.

"Sensei, when Mai, Kido, and I killed those bandits, we felt terrible. How do you make that feeling go away?"

"One of my Sensei used to say that it's normal to feel like that. You'll find a way to block that feeling. Whether it's a justification, a bad habit like gambling, or a quirk that you develop such as chewing on a piece of hay." The Jounin leader said before his face turned deathly serious.

"But remember, just because you have the power to kill, doesn't mean you should. Remember that we are not just tools that kill anything that gets in our way. There needs to be some restraint in what we do. Yes, we are shinobi but we do not kill just to kill. That is the difference between people like us from Konoha or the warmongering Iwa or Kiri. Always remember that."

Their normal routine of light training, walking, and resting continued for three days until they made it to their destination on Wednesday afternoon.

"Well, here we are Team. Welcome to Kusagakure!"


	11. Chapter 11: First Taste

_" **Ooof! Ugh...Harry?"**_

 _ **"You knew this was coming Pete!"**_

 _ **"Listen to me! I didn't kill your father!"**_

 _ **"Grrr!"**_

 _ **"He was trying to kill me, he killed himself!"**_

 _ **"SHUT UUUPPP!!!"**_

 _ **Another reference game for you guys. Guess the reference in a PM or Review. As always I encourage you to read and review, it helps me post faster and gives me inspiration and insight on which way to take the story.**_

 _ **Hurray!!! The story has 50,000 words! Huzzahs are in order!**_

 **Happy Late Halloween you guys! A ton of things have been happening with me and I haven't gotten that much time to write over the past few months. I'm just happy I was able to crank out another chapter for you guys. Anyway, I'll let you guys read the story now. Onward!**

 ** _Chapter 11: First Taste_**

The quintet of Konoha ninja consisting of three rookie Genin, one Jounin and a Special Jounin walked towards the gates of Kusa. As they approached the gates of The Hidden Grass Village, the two sentries at the gate stood in front of the entrance protectively.

The two Chuunin gate guards wore the standard issue uniform for Kusagakure Ninja; A olive green flak jacket with grass-like leather tassels hanging from the shoulder area, light brown pants, green shining sandals, and a black Kusagakure headband.

Once the Konoha ninja were within thirty yards of the gate, the guards decided to make their presence vocal instead of just physical.

"Halt all five of you! What is your reason for coming to the Village Hidden in the Grass?"

"The Sandaime Hokage of Konoha sent using a mission that was requested by your Sandaime Oda, Shouta Kareha, a few days ago." Naruto stayed loudly. One of the ninja walked forward a bit and checked for Genjutsu.

"KAI!" He shouted. When nothing happened, they all visibly relaxed. Another ninja walked up to the gates, flanked by two Chuunin, and announced his presence to the group of Kusa and Konoha Shinobi.

"Okay, I will take you to see Lord Shouta. My name is Yuma, Jounin of Kusagakure. Follow me please."

Yuma, like all the other Chuunin ninja at the gate, wore the basic uniform of Kusagakure which consisted of a olive green colored flak jacket, light brown pants, a light brown shirt, black Shinobi sandals, a black Kusagakure headband, and several tool pouches around his waist.

The entourage from Konoha followed Yuma and the two Chuunin through the minor Hidden Village. As they looked around, they all received questioning glances and guarded stares. A few of them were downright untrustworthy or disapproving glares. After a while, Kido, who received tons of looks like that back in the Hidden Leaf Village, was getting annoyed. Naruto was as well and kept it to himself, but Kido wasn't as old as his Sensei and therefore not in as good control of his mouth as Naruto was.

"Why the heck is everyone looking at us like that?! It's so annoying!"

"Kido-kun!" Hinata gasped as she began to scold the young Genin about his rudeness.

"No, no. Do not scold the young Genin. It's normal for him to ask about the looks you and your team are receiving. The Sandaime Oda will explain it to you once we arrive at the Kusa Citadel in the village's center."

Once the group of Shinobi arrived at the Citadel and made it to the Oda's office, the leading Jounini, Yuma knocked in the large oak door.

"Oda-Sama. The entourage from Konoha, they have arrived and are with me now. May we come in?"

"Of course, you may enter."

The Oda's office was very spartan in its furnishings. There were two dark green couches on either side of the room, a chair in front of the Oda's very large oak wood desk. There were a few fungi plants in the corners of the office with a few ferns. There was a tall bookcase filled with books and on the walls were the pictures of the Three Odas that had led the minor village up until this point. Once everyone had filed into the office, and was settled, the all gave a bow to the Sandaime Oda.

The Sandaime Oda was a middle aged man in his early fifties with salt and pepper short hair, grey eyes, and pale skin. He was a man of average height and weight.

He wore an open green cloak, a green flak jacket with brown fatigues that was similar to the US Army. His flak jacket also had thick shoulder guards on them. He also wore wrist length, green, metal plated gloves, black pants, and tall black Shinobi sandals. Around his head was a Kusagakure forehead protector with gold colored cloth, which signified that he was the current Oda.

"I am Shouta Kareha, Sandaime Oda of the Village Hidden Among the Grass. Welcome to our village." The older leader said with kindness.

"Thank you for the warm welcome Shouta-Sama. I am Hikari Hyuuga and this is Haruto Namikaze. These are our students Kido Kagayaki, Mai Kurosawa, and Tenzo Yamamoto." She said gesturing to each of the aforementioned people on her team.

"It's great meet you all. That's good that you're here a day early. I've decided, for the safety of the cargo and the success of the mission, that I should add my own Genin squadron to the mission. I hope that this is alright with you."

"Yes that's fine. I understand your concern." Hinata stated.

"Great. They should be here any minute now." The middle aged Hidden Grass leader said.

Kido remembered what Yuma said about the looks they were receiving earlier and decided to ask the Oda.

Hey Oda-Sama, what the heck was up with all the looks we were getting as we came here? We're allies not enemies! Why were they staring at us?"

"To understand properly, I shall tell all of you a brief history of Kusagakure and its philosophy towards war, leadership, and development of our small nation." The man said as he suddenly appeared much older than he looked. He cleared his throat and sipped some tea from a small cup on his desk before beginning his history lesson.

"This village's Shodaime Oda, my great grandfather Meika Kareha, founded Kusagakure after your village, Konohagakure became a village. He, an older man in his late fifties, thought the idea of banding together for a better cause, was excellent. He would later bring together the few warring clans harmony. My great grandfather, being a very unsuitable for the job of the leader since his skill level was that of an upper level Chuunin as opposed to a Kage or even a Jounin, was kicked out of the Oda's office by the clans, and Kaneda Furuto, a more reliable, stronger, and much younger leader, replaced him. The Nidaime Oda, Kaneda Furuto, would lead the village to a easy, safe, and peaceful way of life by disassociating with other rising villages like Konohagakure. Though, it was a goal at all costs to make Kusagakure a supreme village." The Oda paused to sip some more of his tea before continuing his informative talk.

"Even so, during the first shinobi world war. Kaneda opted to stay hidden and not take part, so we watched as bystanders, ingesting information as they substituted it into their own systems to slowly climb the ladder of sociality. This movement would last until Kaneda perished in battle. It was as if his own stray from society caught up to him, he fell victim to war, becoming fatally wounded. He passed on to the next life, leaving his highly influential goals amongst his people. His dreams came back to bite Kusagakure as we were not able to function without his ideology, having no idea where he wished to take it."

"So the Nidaime Oda just hid the village away from the others?" Tenzo asked.

"Yes. And it worked for awhile." Yuma said as he fielded the question for his leader.

"Therefore I, the Sandaime Oda came into power. I relayed to the people that it was my duty to them as the great grandson of Kaneda to live on his legacy and keep alignment with my great grandfather's ruling, but I knew that this would not last for long. I decided right then and there that it was in the absolute best interests of Kusagakure to open up trade with other villages before it was too late. In doing so, I successfully connected Kusagakure to the main routes of other villages, creating bridges across gigantic fissures, rivers, and ravines. Having fine results, I had found great partnership with Konohagakure and Iwagakure as we traded off old and new fungi as well as unique materials in which resided in the deepest depths of the forest and jungle around the village. Nevertheless, my reign was superb for Kusagakure as he introduced many jobs, and he made a once small town into a full fledged village."

"Wow it seems like you've taken your village to great heights and elevated its popularity." Mai said. The Sandaime Oda gave her a piercing look and began speaking again.

"No…I failed in one area; I did not take into account just why my great grandfather had actually secluded the village from prying eyes. During this war, Kusagakure was placed directly in between the grounds of Konohagakure and Iwagakure, and it was just then that our once trading partner, Iwagakure, swept in, besieging us as they took over with brute force. We are inferior to them, and were not exposed to the techniques that were indigenous to most Shinobi. Luckily enough though, there was a turning point in this war as Konohagakure has turned the tide in their favor. The destruction of the Kannabe Bridge a month and a half ago has cut off their Shinobi forces substantially in the Land of Fields, making most of the Iwagakure Army retreat. Nonetheless, the people, as an aftermath, hold great doubt of me as many lives were lost, ultimately reducing the village numbers to a smaller size. I fear it will be a very long time before my people will allow me to regain their trust once again. The civilians don't really trust any foreign ninja right now, even Konoha. Most of my ninja understand, but everyone is still on high alert."

"Oh that really sucks. I hope you can regain the trust of your people."

"As do I young man. As do I." Before anyone could utter another word, there was a knock on the door.

"Enter!" The Oda called out. A man wearing the Kusagakure Chuunin uniform walked in with three Genin.

"I brought the Genin you requested Oda-Sama."

"Oh perfect. You three are right on time. This is the Genin team from Konoha that I asked for. Come meet your mission teammates."

The first Genin was named Akahiro Fujiwara. He wore a dark blue shirt that reached his upper forearms, black pants that were tucked into blue Shinobi sandals, brown forearm length gloves, a black strap going from hip to his shoulder that held additional ninja tools.

His hair was a dark purple and it was in a short slicked back style with two shoulder length bangs framing his face. His skin was a dark tan color, while his eyes shone a fiery orange color.

The second Genin was named Fumiko Hara. She wore a sleeveless, form fitting, crimson colored dress that had two thin white stripes on the bottom hemline, and around the neck, grey thigh high leggings, black shin guards, black standard issue Shinobi sandals, two grey pouches with ninja tools, and thin black wristbands.

Her hair was in a thick braid that reached her shoulder in a dull grey color and her eyes were an onyx color. Her skin was a vibrant peach color, and her lips were coated in a bright violet shade of lipstick.

The final Genin of the group was named Hideo Watanabe. He wore a dull yellow shirt under a brown leather chest protector with black straps, and a fishnet shirt underneath the shirt. His pants were brown and were folded before they reached his brown Shinobi sandals. On his back was a large black rectangle held up by a singular cross body shoulder strap.

His hair was brown and very short, while his eyes were black and one of his teeth were missing. All three ninjas were around the age of fifteen years old and had been Shinobi for nearly three years.

"Hey I'm Akahiro, what's up!"

"I'm Fumiko, pleased to meet you!"

"Hideo."

"Well I'll fill you guys in on the situation now. Since the attack and siege of the Northern part of the Land of Fields by Earth Country's ninja village Iwagakure, our civilian convoys have been harassed and raided by their forces. But last month, Fire Country's ninja village, Konohagakure destroyed the Kannabe Bridge, causing the enemy to abandon their campaign, and severely limiting the ninja still here. We had to send Chuunin and Jounin to handle this mission up to one month ago, we can now send Genin. The reason I hired Konohagakure for this mission is our forces have been reduced to about sixty percent of our numbers. About half of them are Genin. I want to spare as many of my men as possible. The reason I'm sending these Genin? I trust them and they are some of Kusagakure's most promising young Genin and I want them to gain a bit more experience before sending them off to the Chuunin Exams this year. On this mission, there will be bandits, and maybe some Genin to Chuunin level Iwagakure ninja. Your mission is to guide one of our civilian trading caravans to a small shipping town in The Land of Fire by Saturday afternoon. Afterwards, you can return to your village while my Genin return here. The caravan will be ready tomorrow morning. Any questions?"

"Yes actually." Hinata surprisingly said.

"You have the floor Hikari-san." Shouta said, gesturing towards her.

"What are the capabilities of your Genin?"

"Akahiro is a clan heir who holds the Panda Summoning Contract, has numerous Ninjutsu techniques, and is proficient in Taijutsu. Fumiko is a Fuuton user, is knowledgeable in Genjutsu, and can utilize shape manipulation. Hideo is skilled in assassination techniques, and Raiton techniques. While they are a good team, I believe your team's skill set will cover them and vice versa to create a solid unit. If anything should go wrong you two should be able to handle it. I ask that you do not interfere unless the Genin are in danger of losing their lives." The Sandaime Oda finished before rubbing his chin and leaning forward in his chair.

"You know the skills of my ninja, what about your ninja? What skills do your young Genin possess?

"Oh well I'm glad you've asked. Kido here is skilled in Katon and Fuuton Jutsu, Kenjutsu, and Taijutsu. Mai is proficient in Medical Ninjutsu, knows a few Suiton Jutsu, and is good with kunai. Tenzo is a strategist, with a Doton Affinity, and a few stealth Jutsu.

"We have no further questions."

"Then our meeting/mission briefing is complete. Meet back at the East Gate at 9:00 AM. Aoi here will show you to your hotel rooms. I wish you success on your mission tomorrow."

Everyone bowed to the Sandaime Oda and left his office. The Konoha entourage was led to a nearby hotel to stay at for the night and they decided to go and explore the village for a few hours after they had unpacked, then meet up at the Kusa Citadel to find a good spot to sit down and have dinner. As they stood by the hotel, they finished making their plans, and reaffirmed them.

"Okay then. So Tenzo, you're going to the Shinobi Library, right? Kido and Mai, you guys are headed to the shopping district, and then to the training fields?" Naruto asked. They replied positively.

"Okay then. We'll be at the park if you guys need us." Naruto said before Hinata stepped forward and began looking around and getting close to Kido and the other two Genin.

"Remember, this is still a Ninja Village. An allied one, but still. Don't show too many skills and don't release sensitive material. Kido, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT use your Bloodline under ANY non life threatening circumstances. Be aware that while we're in the village, we are still in unsafe territory. If any of you three need our help for any reason, throw a kunai with an explosive tag attached to it up into the air. We'll see the explosion and come right away."

"Right Hikari-Sensei." The thirteen year olds said in unison.

"Okay then we'll see you three in about three hours at the Kusa Citadel." They all nodded and walked in their own individual directions.

"So what do you want to do in the park Naruto-kun?"

"How about some Chess, Shogi, or Go? I'm not that great at Shogi or Go though. In fact I'm terrible at them."

"It's okay Naruto-kun. I'll teach you."

"Oh cool! I'm in! I wonder how Obito is doing right now…?" Naruto wondered.

Back in the area of an unknown village in the Land Of Tea, Team Minato had just finished up a B-Rank mission in The Land of the Sea. Team Minato had grown more close with one another, and Kakashi and Obito had foraged an unbreakable friendship, and Rin had seen the outcast Uchiha grow from a ecstatic, but immature boy that she cared for, to a happy and maturing man. Ever since he gained his Sharingan, he had been training nonstop with Kakashi on his Mangekyou Sharingan abilities, Minato and Naruto on his speed and stamina, and reading up in the Uchiha Clan Library to master better Katon Jutsu. He wanted to make sure he never lost anyone he cared for, or himself to the fires of the 3rd Great Shinobi War.

"Hey Kakashi, was Madara a z-zombie, or an old man when you fought him?" Obito said with a bit of fear on his tongue.

"Well yes and no. He was a reanimated zombie, then he used the Rinnegan to come back to life." Kakashi answered.

"This sounds terrifying. I'm not a coward, but I hope I never have to fight against him." Obito uttered.

"It's not cowardly to not want to fight the second most powerful ninja in Shinobi History. I'd be worried if you weren't scared." Kakashi said.

The teens were heading home though The Land of Tea, when they had their path blocked by a small group of six Kirigakure Chuunin. Kakashi had seen them before they blocked their path and began to think of why they would be here.

"Why in the world are Kirigakure Ninja this far away from Kirigakure. What could they possibly be looking for here? I'm sure they didn't just meet us by coincidence. Something fishy is going on here!" Kakashi thought to himself. Just as Obito and Rin caught up to Kakashi, the Hidden Mist Chuunin drew their kunai and settled into an attack position. Kakashi, who had spent the previous month reforaging his father's White Fang Blade with Tenten's help, drew the newly crafted White Fang Blade, while Rin held a handful of shuriken and Obito drew a singular kunai.

"What's up with these Hidden Mist losers? What are they doing way out here?" Obito asked Kakashi.

"I'm not sure, but something's not right. Don't attack until they make a move, but keep a sharp eye." Kakashi instructed. Rin and Obito nodded and watched the Kiri Ninja closely. The Konoha team and the Kiri squad were at a standstill for five minutes but it seemed like an eternity before a Kiri ninja convulsed and ran forward, kunai in hand. This prompted the other five to do the same. Rin jumped back and launched her shurikens while Obito and Kakashi dashed towards the trees. Rin flew through a few hand signs while calling out her Jutsu and suddenly the four shurikens multiplied into thirty-two.

 **"Shuriken Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!"** (Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu)

The six Chuunin simply jumped over her attack, but she smiled and launched a hail of kunai at where they would land. Two of them were hit by the kunai and the other four had maneuvered out of the way. One of the men died instantly and the other had a few kunai in his shoulder and leg. He quickly yanked the three kunai from his leg and threw them at Rin, who jumped back even farther. Kakashi noticed that they had totally ignored them and instead chose to continue their assault on their female teammate Rin. She ended up jumping into the foliage, but then was kicked hard back onto the dirt path. Another group of Kiri ninja came out of the tree line. They were much like the attacking Chuunin in their movements, except they were Jounin and ANBU.

"Obito! We—!"

"I know Kakashi! I'm going to save her! I'm going to use the Mangekyou Sharingan to do it!" The young Uchiha said with determination.

"Obito! Wait! We need to do this as a team. It looks like there's about 25 Kirigakure Ninja. Most of them are Jounin level. I'll mow some down and you finish them off after I've gotten their attention." Obito soundlessly nodded, determined on rescuing the girl he loved.

 **"Raikiri!"** (Lightning Blade)

The incredibly loud chirping of one thousand birds gained the attention of the Kiri ninja just in time for Kakashi to cut right through the midsection of one of the Kiri ANBU. He then systematically zig zagged through enemies by slashing, slicing, and impaling them. They screamed in pain from Kakashi's Lightning Jutsu carving through their flesh. At the end of his run, he had killed twelve Kiri Ninja. Most of them had turned and looked at him hatefully. One of them had grabbed Rin and stabbed the brown haired Kunoichi in the shoulder, and Obito took that as his chance to swoop in. They were all about to begin stabbing her, but then came more screams and shouts of pain. They turned to see Obito mowing them down like wheat in a field using a Mangekyou Sharingan enhanced version of his Fireball Jutsu. He then sprinted at the remaining men with two kunai coated in Fire chakra slicing and stabbing each man repeatedly and using Kamui to phase through opponents and keep himself protected. He cleared all of the Kirigakure Ninja and dashed at the main Ninja; A Kiri ANBU who was holding a kunai to Rin's neck. Obito saw what was going on and leapt into the sky, intent on rescuing the girl that he loved. The Kiri ANBU gripped his head for a second and tightened his grasp on Rin.

"If you so much as take a step, form a hand seal, or even a sneeze, I'll slit this woman's throat!"

Kakashi stopped dead in his tracks and glared at the foreign ANBU. He knew if Rin died, Madard would find out, and lure Obito into his clutches once again. He racked his brain for some kind of plan or strategy he could use to free Rin from this man without getting her killed.

"Give me the secret documents you stole from our Mizukage's Office! Now!! If not, you can watch this bitch die you tree hugging Konoha freak! You've got five seconds!"

Kakashi did not know of any secret documents, nor was his, or any Konoha Team for that matter, anywhere near Kiri or the Mizukage's Office.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" Kakashi shouted to the masked ninja.

"Don't play dumb with me! I want those Documents now! Time's up!" He shouted to Kakashi as his cold steel kunai was raised into the air and brought down in a dangerous arc towards Rin's unprotected body. Kakashi saw the whole thing happening in slow motion due to the Mangekyou Sharingan as he used his Kamui to try and warp the man's kunai away. His younger body was much less adept at utilizing the Kamui technique and thus, was much slower than normal. Rin screamed out at her impending death hoping for miracle.

Obito came down and drove his flame covered kunai through the back of the Kiri Ninja's skull with such force, that the tip of the kunai pierced through the front of his skull and shattered his mask, exposing his shocked and pained expression. His blood sprayed onto Rin and Kakashi as Obito tore his kunai from the man's head. When he stood up, he was drenched in the blood of thirteen enemy ninja.

"Don't you EVER touch her!" The young Uchiha growled lowly.

Rin and Kakashi started at Obito's bloody and intense looking visage with shock and a newfound respect and appreciation for him. Once they had gotten over all the adrenaline, Rin ran to Obito and hugged him fiercely while lightly crying on his shoulder. The intense visage on Obito's face melted away and was replaced by a calm happy smile. He then fell down in exhaustion. Kakashi ran to his friend's side and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You did great Obito. Looks like you finished your new technique. What are you going to name it?"

"How about I name it; **Katon: Nijū Honōnoken!"** (Fire Style: Dual Flame Blade)

"That sounds very impressive Obito." Kakashi said in encouragement to his best friend.

"Rin…are you okay?" Obito asked as he held her.

"I-I…Obito-kun…you were impressive and…" Rin said before she grimaced from the wound on her arm.

"You're hurt Rin. You should get it healed." Obito commented as she raised a glowing green hand filled with healing chakra up to her damaged arm. After a few moments, the wound was closed and the muscles were healed.

"That was really weird. Why would they accuse us of stealing from the Mizukage's office? Hey Kakashi, in the future, do we go to war with the Hidden Mist?"

"No, we don't. Konoha is neutral with Kiri in the future. It's more of a 'Don't mess with us and we won't mess with you' kind of policy. Anyway, we need to figure out what's going on here. More importantly, I'll be reporting our findings back to Hokage-sama. For now, I'm going to check the bodies for any information and anything of value, then we should get moving and head back to Konohagakure quickly."

Just as Kakashi was checking the final body, a ninja with a kunai in his back slowly rose up behind Kakashi and raised his kunai. Obito had turned to look at Kakashi for the signal to move out, but saw the man rising up behind his best friend.

"Kakashi look out behind you!" The goggle faced Shinobi shouted.

Time seemed to slow down as Kakashi turned around to see a kunai arcing down towards the back of his skull. The glint of the dark steel blade shimmered slowly as it made its way to Kakashi's unprotected form. Obito was already running towards the revived attacker, attempting to close the thirty yard gap, but surmised that despite his efforts, he wouldn't make it in time. He closed his eyes, and looked away, not wanting to see the silver haired teen die.

'Dammit! All that time and effort for nothing. Naruto…you'll have to carry on without me. Hopefully you'll have Obito as a Sensei."

The squelch of flesh being pierced seemed to echo for miles as the kunai met it mark. Buried all the way to the hilt in his skull. Dark blood began to quickly flow from the fatal wound and spilled around the kunai.

'And we had just become best friends. Now it's over. I can't do this! I can't look at my friend like this!' Obito thought as he cried m silently.

Obito knew he couldn't keep himself from witnessing the scene, so he cracked open his eyes to peer at Kakashi's corpse. But he didn't see Kakashi's corpse. He saw Rin wielding a kunai that was sunk hilt deep in the front of the Kirigakure Ninja's head. He looked at Rin's face and then to Kakashi's. On Rin's visage he saw only a high level of determination. On Kakashi's face, he saw relief and thankfulness.

 **"Shunshin no Jutsu!"** Rin whispered to herself before she kicked the corpse back into the dirt, leaving the blood soaked weapon in his head. The two boys started at Rin in awe. She noticed that they were staring at her and she put her hands behind her back and giggled nervously before speaking up in a pseudo-tough voice

"What? I'm still a ninja. I've got to protect you guys as well and make sure we all stay alive." They still looked at her in awe, but Obito was the first to recover.

"Wow Rin… that was awesome! Why didn't I think of that?" Obito praised as he scratched his raven colored hair. Kakashi couldn't resist this moment to take a shot at Obito as he jokingly added his two cents to the conversation while giving Obito a slick eye smile.

"That's because she's smart, and you're not." Obito ground his teeth in mock anger at Kakashi before he began to chase him down the path and away from the bloody scene Team Minato had created, unaware that someone had been watching them in the shadows. The eavesdropper pulled back into the forest and formed the half ram seal. A second later, a grainy, multicolored image of a decrepit old man with white hair and a long navy blue cloak came into view.

"Our mission has failed my Lord. We could not acquire the boy. Nor could we kill his teammates. It seems they have gotten stronger since the cave-in six weeks ago. Should I go after him myself?" The figure in the projection was silent for a few moments, then spoke.

"No. Return to me immediately."

"As you wish my Lord." The spy then took off in the northwestern direction, making sure to avoid coming into contact with the teens he was tasked to eliminate.

Back in the Hidden Grass Village, Mai and Kido had just finished window shopping and had arrived at the training fields. They were in an area with a small pond and a waterfall nearby with a large open area bordered by a forest. Before they could begin their stretches, a huge blast of wind came from the opposite side of the clearing. The Konoha Genin jumped up onto a nearby tree, not wanting to be hit by the Jutsu, which had destroyed the tree that was behind them. Fumiko and Hideo walked out from the tree line and looked at the two younger Genin. Fumiko whispered something into Hideo's ear and he shook his head. They both walked forward and Hideo beckoned for them to come down from the tree they were perched on. Kido and Mai did so, and the two slowly approached their soon to be mission partners with scowls and guarded stances.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! Why'd you attack us?!" Kido shouted.

"Well we were walking west and we wanted to see if you're good enough to be on our squad. Fumiko thinks you've got what it takes, but I'm not convinced."

"Are you serious?" Mai yelled towards the two Kusa Genin as they both slid into a ready stance.

"What are you—!" Kodo started to shout but was cut short as he was forced to block a kunai aimed directly at the center of his Leaf Hitai-ate.

"Okay that's it! You want a fight?! Then you'll get one! Don't take it too hard when I bury you in the dirt!"

"Bring it on newbies!" The male Kusa Genin taunted. The two members of Team Six darted right for Hideo at top speed, which surprised the older Genin. Mai was forced to slow down and block a few shuriken used to gain her attention. Fumiko slid into the path of Hideo, blocking Mai from helping Kido.

"Your opponent is me. I may not want to fight you two as badly as my teammate, but I do want to see your abilities for myself. Besides, I can't let my teammate get double teamed."

"Okay then." Mai said as she drew two kunai. Holding them in a reverse grip, she charged at the older ninja. Fumiko blocked the initial slash, but was left with a small cut on her face after the follow up attack was quicker than she expected. The attack had distracted her enough for Mai to land a well placed kick to her chest that sent her stumbling backwards. Mai quickly launched the kunai in both her hands at Fumiko, but instead of hitting the off balance teen, they completely missed, shocking the Konoha native. She launched more shuriken that had the same result of falling short of their mark. Fumiko launched at her and landed a powerful right hook to her face, followed by a jumping kick that knocked her headband off and sent her crashing into a tree. The younger girl recovered and wondered to herself how she could defeat her opponent.

"Like it? It's an ability of Fuuton users. I can twist the wind around me so that way weapons are useless against me." The wind user said as they reengaged each other.

"Taste this!" Mai pointed both her hands at her opponent, mimicking a gun with her fingers. A ball of water was generated at her fingertips, and was fired at a high speed, shooting it at the Kusa Kunoichi.

 **"Suiton: Suireiha!"** (Water Style: Water Spirit Wave)

The water style attack tore at the braided kunoichi's side as she attempted to dodge the fast moving attack.

"Gotcha! Just one more should knock her out!"

 **"Suiton: Suireiha!"**

The water Jutsu crashed against her body and sent into a tree, cracking the natural structure.

"I didn't use that much power?! That means…KAI" The blonde girl snapped out of the Genjutsu to hear an attack being sent her way.

 **"Fuuton Reppu-Ookami!"** (Wind Style: Gale Wolf)

Two wind wolves were charging at Mai and slashed at her from both sides. She was having continuous trouble keeping up with them, which the several cuts and gashes had attested to. She finally gained some breathing room and threw a single kunai at Fumiko that once again banked left and embedded itself in the grassy earth.

"I told you that wouldn't work. You'll have to try gander than that."

"I think I'll be just fine in three seconds." Mai said as Funiko's ears picked up the sound of sizzling. She looked down and saw the kunai had an explosive note wrapped around the handle. Her eyes widened as she jumped away. A half a second later, an explosion rocked the area. A singed log dropped to the burned ground and Mai immediately launched a spinning backfist behind her and smacked Fumiko in the mouth, causing her to bleed from the lip. She got to her feet and put a hand up to signal the end of the fight.

"You're a solid Genin with some good tactical skills. You've made the cut. Now let's see how our boys are doing."

Kido jumped into the air and purposely telegraphed his comet strike with his sword. As expected, Hideo barely sidestepped it. However the shock came when he had an uppercut connect right with his chin, leaving him dazed, followed up by a drop kick that knocked the air out of Hideo's lungs. Hideo rose up and clapped his hands together after a few hand seals.

 **"Raiton: Kanden Haribari!"** (Lightning Style: Electric Shock Needles)

Kido dodged most of them, but a few of them hand hit his arm, causing the appendage to go numb for a brief period.

"Damn it! My arm isn't very responsive. That means no Jutsu until I can physically reverse the effects."

"And here I thought you were supposed to be ' _the best young Shinobi that Konoha has to offer_ '" Hideo exclaimed in a mocking voice.

"Konoha must not be as strong as we thought if they call you the best!"

 **"Raiton: Jibashi!"** (Lightning Style: Electric Murder)

The Lightning Style Jutsu surged wildly at the golden eyed pariah as he leapt towards a tree, then bounced off and away from the Lightning. He focused his chakra towards his arm, and the feeling returned. He leapt at Hideo with his right arm raised. Hideo however, saw the attack coming and grabbed the young ninja's arm. He laughed, until Kido's left arm lashed out and his fist slammed into the yellow garbed teen, breaking his nose. Regaining some of his balance, he threw a sloppy left hook that Kido ducked under. Kido delivered a short burst of quick punches to Hideo's midsection and then kicked him in the chest knocking him to the ground a few yards away. He stood up and formed the half ram seal, not out of the fight yet.

 **"Raiton: Denki Kumo Kāba!"** (Lightning Style: Electric Cloud Cover)

The area was covered in a thick cloud-like fog that had random sparks of electricity crackling within it. The sparks would randomly jolt and attempt to zap Kido. Not only that, but kunai and Shuriken from random directions attempted to penetrate his skin.

 **"Fuuton: Reppūshō!"** (Wind Style: Gale Palm)

He jumped back and spread the Wind Jutsu over a wide area and dispersed the Lightning Jutsu, shocking the Kusa ninja.

 **"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!"** (Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu)

Hideo was struck with the brunt of six Phoenix Flower missiles and each exploded on him, leaving his clothes singed. When the last one hit him, he crumpled to the ground. The veteran Genin struggled to pull himself to his feet, so Kido rammed his shoulder into Hideo's chest, knocking him into his back. He stepped next to the defeated ninja and pointed his sword at his chest.

"Am I good enough now?"

"Y-yes." Hideo squeaked out.

"Good! Don't you ever call Konoha weak, insult me, my team, or our skills!"

"Hey knock it off you two! Why in the world are you annoying our guests? They might be from a foreign land, but that land just saved our asses from Iwagakure."

"I'm really sorry Akahiro-kun. It was all Hideo's idea! He talked me into it! Blame him!"

"I'm pretty sure that was your Wind Jutsu that caused the fight."

"But, but, it's that dummy Hideo's fault!" She squeaked out as Hideo hobbled over to Fumiko, supported by Kido.

"Eh…I'm over it. Just quit messing with them and go home the both of you. Actually to the hospital. Kido you really beat up Hideo and Mai you put up a fight against Fumiko."

"I'm training to be a Medical Ninja so I can just heal them. I need the practice anyway. Every little bit of training counts."

"Che, probably some Genin welp who thinks that she can be just like Tsunade." Hideo said. Kido stomped on his foot and let him drop to the grass below with a thud. As he nursed his foot, Kido began to lecture him in a scolding, yet calm tone of voice.

"How about shutting up? She's one of my teammates and could probably beat you with a few light taps. She's the most advanced Medic Ninja in the Leaf ranks in our age group. So do you want to get healed or not?"

"Grr. Heal me…" He grumbled.

"What was that? You should speak up." Kido as a parent would to a child.

"Heal me!" He shouted. The younger Genin decided to rub it in a bit more.

"Ah ah ah! Say please."

"Would you p-please heal me…?"

"Sure! We'd be happy to do so! But Fumiko comes first since she's already started on your teammate."

After everyone was healed and able bodied, the Konoha Genin and Kusa Genin parted ways.

"Ah ha ha ha ha! No way! Did you really say that to him?"

"Of course I did Sensei! He was such a jerk! I just had to say it! He was so riled up too!" Kido practically shouted as he stuffed two pieces of sushi into his mouth.

"Kido, do you really think it was wise to anger one our teammates for this mission?" Tenzo asked.

"Ah who cares Tenzo! They're not going to flip about it. Besides, it's not like I was being a jerk for no reason. He was being a jerk to Mai so I helped her out."

"Let's hope it does not come to that Kido and the mission goes smoothly."

"You're over analyzing the situation again Tenzo. We'll be fine, right Mai?"

"Uhm yes of course we will. There's no need to worry about the Kusa Ninja. It's their country that this mission is benefiting. I'm sure they wouldn't ruin it out of spite."

"You didn't show them your 'special ability' or any advanced Jutsu you know did you?" Hinata asked her students. They shook their heads signaling a sigh of relief from the time traveling Hyuuga.

"Okay then. But don't count on them to have your back completely. Well at least not Hideo. I guess we don't have much to worry about after all. There are six Genin and two Jounin."

"That's the spirit Tenzo! Now quit yapping and start stuffing your face with this tasty kuzumochi!" Kido cheered as he held a plate of sweet opaque gelatinous cubes covered in dark honey to all of his teammates. All four of them took a piece each and tried the chilled dessert, and their eyes widened as the flavor overtook their taste buds.

"Wow that's really good Kido! Why isn't this dish in Konoha?"

"Because it came from the Land of Wind. I was actually surprised that this place had some on the menu. It's not as good as my mom, but it's still tasty."

"Well now that we've all eaten, we should go and get some rest so we can wake up for the mission tomorrow." Hinata instructed.

"Okay you heard Sensei guys, let's hit the hay. Last one there has to buy lunch when we get back to the village! Ready…set…GO!!!" Kido shouted after they had paid the bill and walked outside.

"How do you think it's going to take for him to realize that he doesn't have the key?" Naruto chuckled as he watched Kido leap off across the rooftops.

They all woke up bright and early for the remainder of their escort mission and the entirety of Team Six waited for Team Kusa to show up. The caravan was waiting by the gates with three Kusa Chuunin holding the reins inside three separate protective wagons filled to the brim with weapons. They didn't have to wait very long before the group of three Ninja rounded a nearby corner and walked up to their temporary teammates.

"Yo!"

"Good morning guys! I hope you guys had an awesome sleep, because this is the part where you're going to be acting as a ninja and not like a kid. No fooling around guys. Pay close attention and follow your Sensei's lead."

"Yeah Akihiro is right. 15% of all Genin will die on their first mission outside of their home village." Fumiko added, agreeing with the purple haired Panda Summoner.

"A-actually since the war broke out, that number has r-risen to 31% for Konohagakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure. Kirigakure and Sunagakure have risen to 39% and for minor Hidden Villages like Kusagakure, Amegakure, Takigakure, and Yugagakure, it has increased to somewhere between 47% to 50%." Tenzo said with a hint of fear in his voice. Mai became very pale when she heard the statistics that Tenzo relayed. But regained her color when Kido spoke.

"Well don't sweat it guys. We are not one of those 31% of all Genin. We're gonna see home again so don't panic." Naruto decided that his students had heard enough and it was time to complete their mission.

"Okay that's enough. It's time to go. Kido and Akahiro in front, Mai, Hikari, and Tenzo in the middle, and I'll be in the back with Fumiko and Hideo. We'll be running there since the caravan will be riding relatively quick so we can arrive at our destination without being ambushed. Let's move everyone!" And just like that, Naruto's call began the remainder of the mission.

As they approached the border of The Land of Fire and The Land of Fields, the sun had risen high in the sky. Aside from some mild interference from a bandit group, there weren't any issues whatsoever. Kido and Team Six has been stellar and had not required the aid of their two Senseis and were keeping composure. Kido and Akihiro were itching for some more substance to their opponents. In other words, they wanted to encounter some enemy ninja. They would soon get their wish granted when a group of 12 Iwagakure ninja launched a hail of Kunai at the ninja. Hinata stepped forward, intent on protecting her students and the Kusa ninja.

 **"Hakke Kūshō!"** (Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm)

All the offending kunai wee blasted away, leaving the attacking ninja exposed and the six Genin and two Jounin to form a swift counterattack plan.

"Haruto-Sensei, you're with Hikari-Sensei attacking the three Jounin, and we can handle the rest by staying with our respective teams and handling the oncoming Genin and Chuunin." Tenzo said quickly.

Kido, Mai, and Tenzo all got into their standard battle formation and charged their opponents. The three younger Genin worked in tandem to eliminate their war enemies who were at Genin and Chuunin level. They had successfully eradicated five Iwa ninja while the older Kusa Genin took down four Genin level ninja as well. Tenzo looked around and saw Team their Senseis battling two on two with some Jounin, but felt that something was off.

"Guys? Something is wrong. Where is the other ninja?"

"What do you mean Tenzo?" The blonde haired medic replied to her bespectacled teammate.

"I mean I don't know where the twelfth ninja went. I counted the number of attacking ninja, and we killed nine of them and our Senseis are fighting two of them. That leaves just one, but where did he—?"

 **"Fuuinjutsu: Gogyō Teppeki!"** (Sealing Jutsu: Five Elements Iron Wall)

A large double layered barrier that was a hazy clear color was erected in a one hundred twenty square foot radius around the three Genin. A large Iwa Jounin burst forth from up out of the ground and landed an uppercut on Kido, who only managed to block the attack partially, but still felt the sting of his jaw being bruised. He got up into a ready position and saw the Jounin standing there as his two teammates ran to his side to make sure he was okay.

"I'm okay guys, the punch just kinda hurt." Kido said to his teammates.

"Guys we're trapped in a barrier with that Jounin! We need a plan before he kills us!" Tenzo said in a panicked tone of voice. The Jounin cracked his knuckles and stood tall at 6'4 and was very powerfully built. Naruto had defeated his Jounin with minimal effort and Hinata was closing the Tenketsu on hers when the Iwa ninja spat blood at her and laughed when he heard his comrade's Jutsu being activated.

"Ha ha ha! It's over for those brats now! The only way to break that barrier is to kill the caster! And those brats are nothing compared to Shoto! They're gonna d...urk…!" Hinata had heard enough and pressed the Tenketsu point over his heart and killed the enemy ninja before she turned to Naruto and asked for a plan.

"I don't have one, but they're going to have to just beat this guy. Let's hope their teamwork is better than his skill." Naruto said grimly.

The Kusa Genin were banging on the barrier at first and then began casting their strongest Jutsu at it, but with no effect. Akihiro held up a hand to halt anymore attempts to break the barrier.

"Guys there's nothing that we can do. It's out of our hands now and they're going to have to deal with that ninja. Let's hope at least one of them lives."

"You're going to die on this mission and there's nothing you can do about it. Look at you three brats. Not even real Shinobi yet are you? Look at the four eyed brat over here, quaking in fear. Then again, he's probably the smart one. Give up, and I'll kill you all painlessly. I'll give you thirty seconds to decide."

They all looked at each other with varying degrees of fear etched into their young faces. Mai was terrified, Tenzo was close to wetting his pants, and Kido was frightened. He realized that they would die if he didn't step up and lead the other two. Kido cleared his throat and pushed his fear to the back of his head and spoke in a powerful and steely tone of voice.

"Guys...we have to fight this guy with everything we've got, and we can't do that if we show him we're scared. We…we need to hide our fear and show him that we will defeat him! This is just like our Genin Exams!" Both of his friends started at him for a second before nodding with determination. They all turned around and glared st Shoto.

"Oh so you lot want to fight? It's your death." He said as he rushed forward.

They charged the Jounin before Mai and Tenzo jumped in opposite directions and Kido slid under his punch and kicked him in the chin. He tried to react, but was knocked off balance by Mai punching him in the face and Tenzo kicking his thighs. Kido drew his sword and made a few choice cuts on the man's arms and flak jacket. They all jumped back and cast their own Jutsu.

 **"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"** (Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu)

 **"Doton: Kajiu no Doro!"** (Earth Style: Mud Weights)

 **"Suiton: Mizugan!"** (Water Style: Water Gun)

The Mud Weights clamped onto his legs and arms, slowing his movement speed as he narrowly dodged the Fireball but was caught by the Water Gun blast and sent tumbling. He stood up and cast a Jutsu.

"Fine then you'll die screaming!"

 **"Doton: Iwa Toge Chakushu no Jutsu"** (Earth Style: Rock Thorn Launch Jutsu) twenty five small earthen shards were quickly launched at Team Six. Mai has her side grazed by them and collapsed, holding her bleeding side.

"ARAGH! I'LL KILL YOU!"

 **"Fuuton: Repūshō!"**

A tremendous amount of chakra was poured into Kido's Jutsu and was surging ahead at Shoto.

 **"Doton: Doryuheki!"**

Renzo used the wind Jutsu as a distraction to attack from his side. He leapt into the air and launched a punch at Shoto's head. Unfortunately, his fist was caught and Shoto slowly crushed Tenzo's hand in his much bigger one. He kept squeezing the tactician's hand until he heard the bones break and Tenzo screamed out in pain.

"Now that's what I wanna hear!" He shouted as he twisted Tenzo's wrist and broke it. He then slammed him into the Mud Wall and used him to knock Kido away when he saw him charging. Kido quickly rolled his feet.

 **"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!"**

The attacking Jounin was caught mid dash by the small projectiles and suffered several burns to his arms and face. He was then assaulted with a chakra enhanced roundhouse knee strike to the ribs that caused him to cough up a bit of blood. He quickly knocked back his Genin opponent and formed some hand seals and slapped his hands on the ground.

 **"Doton: Bakudan!"** (Earth Style: Bomb)

Out of nowhere, the ground shifted quickly and then exploded right under Kido, launching the surprised teen into the air with various cuts, bruises, and burns scattered across his skin. He tried to right himself in the air, but received a crushing elbow to the stomach that sent him crashing into the ground. He stood up shakily and watched Shoto form a short series of hand seals.

 **"Doton: Kouseitan Kawa!"** (Earth Style: Elemental Skin)

The Iwa Jounin's skin turned a dark grey color, signifying his affinity with earth. Kido started in disbelief as he had read about this technique being used by Dorogakure to wage war against his people.

"Like it? It's unbeatable and makes a perfect shield against weapons, Taijutsu, and most Ninjutsu. You're dead kid. And so are the rest of your little friends. This is a true ninja, kid. Not whatever you're doing. I've been a ninja for twenty five years! My skill and experience will trump your 'natural genius'. You three brats from the tree hugging Hidden Leaf will learn this final lesson. This is why the Hidden Leaf will fall and the Hidden Stone will be recognized as the most powerful of the Five Great Elemental Nations!"

 **"Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu!"**

Four fiery missiles shaped like dragon heads raced towards the Iwa Jounin. He stood and took the brunt of the attack. When the smoke cleared, he was unscathed by Kido's fire jutsu.

"Oh so you know a B-Ranked Fire Technique? What's your name?!"

"Kido, Kido Kagayaki! The future ANBU Black Ops Leader and protector of Konoha!!"

Yes! Show me more! Throw everything you've got at me boy! Show me who Kido is!"

 **"Katon: Ryū Kaenhōsha-Ki!"**

Kido used both of his hands to blast his Dragon Flamethrower Jutsu and poured three times as much chakra into the technique than normal. The flamethrower was as wide as a small house and four stories tall charged forward hit the veteran ninja head on. The force of the Jutsu tackled him until he slammed up against the barrier wall. Once the onslaught was over, the man fell to one knee and laughed maniacally. Kido however, noticed that some of the Elemental Skin technique had melted off and the Jutsu cut through the defense and burned his torso, left arm, and the left side of his face.

"I need more chakra! Something more powerful" Kido thought as he gathered up more chakra.

"I've never seen anything like that Jutsu kid. Maybe you're not just playing ninja like your little pals there. A ninja kills, no he slaughters his enemies and does so with no remorse or feeling. Emotions are for the weak. You killed my comrades. They were weak and foolish enough to die by the hands of mere Genin and ninja of a minor village. Your teammates are near death's door and you're fighting with all you have left in the tank. Be a ninja and care about your own safety and not theirs. I might spare you if you can do that while I kill your little girlfriend!"

"NEVER!! I'LL NEVER SURRENDER!! DON'T YOU LAY A FINGER ON THEM!!" Kido screamed as he launched twenty kunai and shuriken at Shoto. They struck true, but bounced away as Shoto rushed at Kido. A fist was slammed hard into Kido's stomach making him cough up blood before a crushing roundhouse kick connected with his jaw.

"Ha ha ha haaaa! Show me your skill, not your emotions!" The Jounin shouted as he dashed over to Mai with a sadistic smile on his face.

He grabbed her forcefully by the back of her neck as a handler would a cat by its scruff. He tightened his grip, causing her to scream and leak tears from her eyes. Kido was struggling to stand, holding his side as he pulled himself up and prepared for more.

"I-if you want to kill them, you'll have to kill me first!" He said with malice in his voice. He locked eyes with his two defeated teammates for a short time. Mai struggling against his grip, and Tenzo laying on the grass holding his wrist and nursing his broken hand. Kido saw him out of the corner of his eye moaning in pain, but his face showed cunning.

"Jump on three!" Tenzo mouthed to Kido. Kido squinted in understanding. On three, Kido jumped high into the air, weaving hand seals and screaming as Tenzo rolled to his feet and launched himself right at Mai.

"YES DO IT! SACRIFICE YOUR OWN TEAMMATE FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY! AH HA HA HA HA!"

As Shoto was waiting for Kido's jutsu, he didn't hear or see Tenzo until the junior tactician put the remainder of his chakra into his fist and slugged Shoto in the cheek as hard as possible, causing the Elemental Skin to crack . He then jumped snatched Mai out of the enemy's grasp and jumped away as Kido finished his final hand seal.

 **"Shakuton: Shinsei Taiho!"**

(Scorch Style: Nova Cannon)

A wide beam of plasma erupted from Kido's hand and struck the unsuspecting Iwa ninja and destroyed his Elemental Skin technique, leaving him stunned with second degree burns.

"GO NOW!" Kido shouted as they all ran towards the incapacitated ninja and impaled him in different parts of his body. Tenzo stabbed him in the ribs with a kunai, Mai caught him in the lungs with two kunai, and Kido drive his sword through the ninja's heart.

"Killed by a few Genin huh? I guess everyone has to die sometime."

After a few seconds, they pulled their weapons out of the man's body, and he fell into a pool of his own blood.

"I guess so huh." Kido replied back to the bow dead man as the barrier around them fell.

"Hey Mai, Tenzo… are you guys okay?"

"We will be soon." Tenzo said as Mai cried into Kido's shoulder and Naruto and Hinata came running over.

"Thank Kami you guys are okay! We're so sorry! If it weren't for us, you wouldn't have gotten hurt!" Hinata said apologetically.

"No it's okay Sensei. We knew we could get hurt being ninja. It's up to us to strive to make sure nobody can hurt us or our friends." Kido said.

"I'm glad you guys are okay though. You had us worried for a minute there." Naruto said.

"Hey guys, umm…that was some impressive teamwork and skill. To tell you the truth, we probably would've died fighting that Jounin. It's good you guys won though."

"No problem Akahiro! Now let's get patched up and back on the road again! We've got a mission to complete!" Kido shouted.

Three hours later, they dropped off the supplies and the weapons at the hub and were on their way back to Konoha. Meanwhile in Kusagakure, Akahiro was giving the mission report to the Sandaime Oda alongside Fumiko and Hideo.

"So my young ninja, was everything run smoothly?"

"Yes…up until the point when we were ambushed. The three Konoha Genin nearly died. But they succeeds in killing their foe."

"Hmmm…they were overwhelmed by bandits and thieves?" The older man questioned.

"No. The three Konoha Genin were caught in a barrier and forced to fight a Veteran ninja who was at Jounin level by themselves."

"What?! Really? Without any assistance whatsoever?"

"Yes Oda-Sama."

"Anything that is noteworthy of their performance?"

"Yes actually. Kido Kagayaki, the Genin Leader of Team Six has a rare and unique Bloodline called Scorch Release. It looked very powerful and was strong enough to destroy a Jounin level absolute defense."

"Well…this certainly livens things up. Given the fact that his Sensei did not mention this to me, they must have wanted to keep this information a secret. The boy's surname as well; Kagayaki. That clan was one of the founding clans of Suna, but did not join the village much like Uzushiogakure, as well as having a close friendship with Uzushiogakure and had aided both Konoha and Suna in the First and Second Great Ninja Wars. Unlike Uzushiogakure, they kept their village relatively hidden and stayed out of most major conflicts unless attacked. We need to gather more information about this boy, his clan, and any aspects of the plans for his future."

"What! But Sandaime-sama, they're our allies! Why would we want to spy on them?!"

"Hold your tongue Genin Fujiwara! I know it is morally wrong, but in case you have forgotten, our village still uses espionage tactics to gain information about what goes on in other villages to survive. If we don't raise the intensity, we could be wiped out! We can't afford another war of attrition with anyone, much less the Hidden Stone Village again. We will do what we must. I hear Konoha is hosting the Chuunin Exams, so we will use them to our advantage and gather information on Kido. I shall be enrolling you three, along with four other teams in the Exams. If there's nothing else, you three are dismissed."

"So we all stabbed him in different parts of his body, and he died shortly after. We completed the mission, and so here we are Hokage-Sama." Kido finished, reciting the final details of the battle for the mission report.

"Well then. Congratulations on completing your first C-Rank Mission and your first B-Rank Mission, simultaneously. I heard that this Shoto Jounin was near our borders a few days ago and I was about to send a team of Jounin to eliminate him, but seeing as you already did so, I'll mark it down that you were assigned this mission as well. Good job Team Six. You know… the Chuunin Exams are coming up in two weeks. Are you three interested in participating? As of today, you're the only Rookie Team who has had an offer extended to them." The Hokage asked them after replying to the mission report. The three Genin looked at each other for a second and nodded at the same time.

"We accept Hokage-Sama!" Kido said.

 **Well the first Arc is complete! Now onto the Chuunin Exams Arc! I'm opening another poll for what fights you would like to see most. If they aren't up there, submit your own opinions and I could make it happen.**

 **I also apologize for not updating for so long. School, Church, Work, moving out of my parent's house and into my own place, and losing my laptop have made it very difficult to write.**

 **As usual, any reviews or PMs are greatly appreciated and actually contribute to my story. Until next time guys.**


	12. Chapter 12: The Chuunin Exams Begin

**"Super Ladies, they're always trying to tell you their Secret Identity. They think it'll strengthen the relationship or something. I said, Girl, I don't even wanna know your mild mannered alter ego or nothing. I mean you tell me you're a super...mega, ultra lightning babe, that's alright with me. I'm good, I'm good.**

 **"No matter how many times you save the world, it always manages to get back in jeapordy again! Sometimes I just want it to say saved, you know. For a little bit. I feel like the maid, I just cleaned up this mess! Could ya keep it clean, for ten minutes!"**

 **"Settle down? I'm at the top of my game! I'm right up there with the big dogs. Girls! Leave the saving the world to the men? I don't think so! I don't think so."**

 _ **Another reference game for you guys. Guess the reference in a PM or Review. As always I encourage you to read and review, it helps me post faster and gives me inspiration and insight on which way to take the story.**_

 _ **Happy St. Patrick's Day! Make sure you wear green or you'll get pinched!**_

 ** _Chapter 12: The Chuunin Exams Begin_**

"Hi-Ya!" Kido shouted as he punched a thick wooden training post for the two-hundredth time. It was a warm spring day and Team Six was having some joint training with Teams 9, and 15. It had been three weeks since Team Six's C-Rank/A-Rank Mission and Kido had upped his Fuuton training by having Danzo train him for an hour every other day. The only ones with any knowledge of the training were Mai, Tenzo, Chitose, and Danzo. Kido was also getting more friendly and acquainted with Danzo's daughter, causing Mai to grow a bit jealous of the older girl. Tsunami was going over a bit of strategy with her teammate Akio while watching Hotaka's movement speed, Daisuke, Yumiko, and Hanare ware getting ready to spar with Kido, Tenzo, and Mai, and Naruto, Hinata, Danuja, Airi, Akari, and Himari were just talking to one another about their teams.

"So the Chuunin Exams are in two weeks and I heard Hokage-Sama personally asked your team to participate in the Chuunin Exams this year, are the rumors true? Or is it all bullshit." Danuja asked in his gruff voice as he watched for the impending fight.

"It's true! He asked us right after their first C-Rank Mission, which they also completed an A-Rank Assassination Mission against a veteran Iwagakure ninja." Naruto said with pride swelling in his voice.

"Wow…that's impressive! We're entering them in the Chuunin Exams as well. What about Team 15? Are you two entering your Genin in the Chuunin Exams too?" Airi asked.

"Good question. They each have passable skill and the knowledge to become Chuunin, but we're still concerned with their teamwork, and ability to come together in tight situations. Their individual skills are still lacking for the Chuunin Exams, but we don't expect them to pass the Preliminaries." Himari said, in a stoic Hyuuga voice.

"This sparring session here against your team, Hikaru-kun will prove if we think they're fit to participate in the Exams this year." Akari said as she put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. Naruto just thought she was being friendly, but Hinata's Byakugan activated subconsciously as she glared daggers at the Jounin.

"How dare that hussy put her hands all over my Naruto-kun!"

Hinata had been gaining back her lost confidence with Naruto and Kushina's help. As a result, she gained a temper and became quite defensive when she thought someone was trying to make a play on Naruto.

"I suppose I should go officiate so no one is badly hurt." Himari said as she walked closer to the area where the three on three team matchup was going to occur.

"Hello Team Six. I'll be officiating this match. Stop means stop, if I haven't said anything, feel free to continue. You may use weapons, Jutsus, and anything else that would help you win this matchup. The only thing is you'll be fighting each other alone. We want to assess your individual skills. So choose your opponent and be ready to fight on my mark."

Kido quickly pointed at Daiskue, while Yumiko winked at Tenzo and pointed in his direction.

"I see. Let's make this a good fight Kido-San."

"Always. It's going to be a new experience since I've never really seen anything besides your Taijutsu."

"I guess that leaves us two Mai-Chan."

"I guess so Hanare-Chan."

"You aren't going anywhere Tenzo-Kun!"

"Uh…would you leave me alone?"

"Fat chance. I'm gonna make you mine you little genius!"

"You know what. How about a bet. If I beat you, then you've gotta take me out to dinner! If I lose, then I won't bother you."

 _"Well I've already formulated three ways to beat her and she was never really that skilled in the academy anyway so I'll take it."_

"Okay then. Fine. I know I can beat you anyway." Tento said confidently.

"Do you think I'm weak or something? I haven't been just sitting around you know! And now I'll show you!"

"Are you all ready? Then begin!"

At the call, both teams sprung into action against their chosen opponents. Kido blocked a punch from the red haired ninja and pressed the attack on Daisuke with a series of well placed and speedy punches. The Kagayaki Scion had slapped down a punch from his opponent and kicked him across the face with a spinning heel kick and then shouldered him in the side of his ribs as the other Genin was reeling from the hit

"Okay. It looks like I've got to be serious now or else I run the risk of losing to you Kido-san. Get ready." Daisuke said politely as he charged at Kido.

"I wouldn't want it any other way!" Kido said. Daisuke launched a few shuriken and formed a few seals.

 **"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**

Three shuriken turned into thirty shuriken and was flying at Kido. Kido jumped back and formed some seals of his own.

 **"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"**

A large fireball easily melted all the incoming shuriken in its path and continued to head towards Daisuke who narrowly jumped out of its way. Daisuke sprinted at Kido and weaved a short series of hand seals.

 **"Bunshin no Jutsu!" (Clone Jutsu)**

All around the red haired ninja nine intangible copies shimmered into existence. Kido scanned the group of oncoming clones, attempting to find the real one. He couldn't tell so he dodged every punch and kick from the group until he figured out which was the real Daisuke by throwing an explosive note in the center of the clones. Only the real one had panicked and Kido capitalized on his mistake.

 **"Fuuton: Kaze no Purusu Kougeki!"**

Six green wind bullets smashed against Daisuke's chest and sent him tumbling. He stood up, but gripped his chest in obvious pain. He formed about ten hand seals and set up his response attack.

 **"Ninpou: Kaben Yōkai!" (Ninja Art: Petal Disguise)**

A wave of flower petals surrounded Daisuke for a few seconds. When the petals dispersed the teen was no longer there. Kido looked around for him but there was no trace of the red haired Genin until Kido was punched in the face and then kicked in the stomach. He tried dodging the strikes but he had no idea where they were coming from. He heard the whistle of shurikens flying through the air and blocked them with his sword. He then realized what was going on.

"Genjutsu! He's not invisible!"

"KAI!" He said as he disrupted the flow of his own chakra. He could see Daiskue clear as day making a mad dash for him. He jumped in the air intent on finishing Kido with an overhead punch, but at the last second, Kido launched a spinning heel kick at Daiskue's head and knocked him out.

"Daiskue of Team 15 is out." Himari said as she pulled him from the grassy field. Kido looked to see how Mai was doing.

"So Mai-Chan…how are you coming along with Kido?" Hanare asked.

"H-Hanare-Chan! He might hear us!" Mai said in distress.

"Oh so you haven't asked him out yet? Tell you what. If I win, you've got to ask Kido out after the training! And if you don't, I'll tell him myself!"

"You wouldn't do that would you?"

"I don't know…would I?"

"I guess I'll have to beat you so I can tell him on my own time."

"Honestly, you're lucky. I've got that loser Daisuke on my team. He refuses to just let me take the reigns! I know what I'm doing, but he always has some sort of 'better plan!' And he always looks so nonchalant about it! I scored higher than him on the written test and he's the only guy on our team. We've got majority so we should be in charge! It's fine though. After I beat him in the Exams by becoming a Chuunin first, I can just order him to listen up. Anyway…let's fight." Mai was concerned for her friend's attitude towards her own teammate Daisuke, but resolved to talk to her later about it. She decided to focus on the here and now.

"Okay, show me your stuff!"

The two Kunoichi rushed forward and engaged in a short Taijutsu match to gauge each other's abilities. It was clear that Mai had the upper hand out of the two in hand to hand combat. At the end of their mixup, Mai dished out a painful kick to Hanare's midsection that sent her rolling ten yards away. She stood up and rubbed her side painfully. Jeez Mai-Chan. You're no slouch when it comes to Taijustu. So I guess I'll need to use Ninjitsu against you instead! She threw some shuriken to give herself ample cover and pulled out a Scroll and ink. She quickly sketched out two wolves with a paintbrush as she jumped back.

 **"Ninpou: Choju Giga!" (Ninja Art: Super Beast Scroll)**

Two wolves made from chakra ink suddenly peeled off of the scroll and became three dimensional beings. They snarled at Mai and charged the blonde haired Kunoichi with a speed that caught Mai off guard. She leapt away from the ink beasts and tried to regain her bearings.

 **"Suiton: Suireiha!"**

Mai targeted one of the wolves with her Jutsu. The water shot pierced through its head and the attacking animal splattered into a puddle of ink. She was about to target the next wolf when a rabbit kicked her in the face, making her Jutsu miss wide right. She ducked under a sharp paw and attempted to stab the wolf with a kunai, but the rabbit wasn't done. It slammed into her hand, causing her to drop the weapon and the wolf rammed her hard making her tumble backwards. She rolled away from a slash and she jumped into the trees to allow herself some breathing room, but she was bombarded by a falcon made of ink as well. She saw that despite getting away from the first two threats, Hanare could still make an aerial assault. She saw two more falcons flying in her direction and noticed something strange.

"When the first two wolves attacked it was very precise and once she added the falcons, it became easier to evade each one. But why…? Bingo! She needs to hold her concentration to control all of them and she's probably splitting her attention between all the animals. If I attack her, she should lose focus and the animals should dispel!" Mai thought to herself. She jumped out of the way of a lung from one of the wolves and ducked under a slash from a falcon and put her plan into motion.

 **"Suiton: Mizurappa!" (Water Style: Raging Water Waves)**

A large blast of water was spewed from her mouth in a waterfall-like fashion, catching Hanare off guard. The Jutsu hit her full force and she had no time to defend against the quick moving attack and was washed away into the nearby lake where Mai had been running to. As Hanare shakily stood to her feet on the surface of the lake, she felt the water on her was very heavy. Suddenly she was ensnared in a ball of water that came out of nowhere. She looked up at Mai who had her left hand inside the outer layer of the Jutsu.

 **"Suiton: Suirō no Jutsu!"**

"Gotcha! Give up and I'll let you out." Mai said. Hanare however shook her head defiantly from inside the water sphere. Thirty seconds went by and Hanare was turning blue in the face from lack of oxygen so Himari stepped in and called the match.

"Okay before the risk of my student drowning in a friendly sparring match gets any higher, I'm calling this match in Mai's favor."

"Yes!" Mai said as she released Hanare from the water prison. Himari picked up her student and walked off of the lake's surface. Hanare coughed up some water and passed out on her Sensei's shoulder.

"I guess there's only one fight left to officiate. Are you going to watch?" She said as she set down her student and realized she had passed out from exhaustion and lack of oxygen.

"Oh right…"

Tenzo and Yumiko stood face to face with each other and they sent heavy determined glares each other's way to throw the other off balance and intimidate one another.

"I'm gonna take you down!" Yumiko said as she rushed forward with a surprising burst of speed towards the battle ready Tenzo and engaged him in a Taijutsu match.

"I know for a fact that Tenzo-kun is the weakest in the Taijutsu area of Shinobi skills, so if I press him, I should have an easy time taking him down."

Tenzo threw a punch that was parried and received a quick punch in the stomach, followed up by kick to the chest that sent him skidding back. Yumiko didn't stop there and continued to lambast him with strong attacks that kept him on the defensive. He attempted to gain some form of separation, but Yumiko was hot on his heels. Tenzo had finally caught a break when she slowed her attacks to conserve her stamina.

 **"Doton: Iwa Bakufū no Jutsu!"**

Tenzo slammed his hands on the ground and seven head sized earth rocks rose from the ground and launched at Yumiko in waves. First two rocks, then three, and the final two. She expertly avoided getting hit as she threw shurikens to divert the first wave, blocked the one rock from the second wave with a chakra coated kunai, and slid under the final wave. Quickly closing the remaining space between the bespectacled ninja and herself, she threw a feint punch, and then kicked Tenzo in the hand, causing him to lose his grip on the kunai he had drawn. She swept his leg, making him lose his balance and then striking him with a mean uppercut that left him dazed. Not wanting the beating to go on, he took a shot at her, but overextended a kick that left him wide open as Yumiko has simply sidestepped the inaccurate attack. He couldn't do anything to guard himself from the barrage of punches that met his unprotected face. She then flipped him over her shoulder and into a tree. He had enough sense to know that hitting that tree would spell the end of the fight and a very uncomfortable dinner date with Yumiko, so he utilized the Substitution Jutsu and disappeared, gaining his much needed breathing room.

"Crap! I lost him! Where did he escape to?"

"Damn where the hell did that come from? When did Yumiko get that fast?! She almost ended me back there! Geez I need to relax. Relax and formulate a plan of attack."

A few minutes went by and Yumiko was getting impatient and she jumped off into the forest looking for Tenzo. A few feet into the forest, she noticed a poorly hidden snare trap. She laughed to herself and hopped right over it. What she nearly failed to notice, was the tripwire she had just stepped on was triggered and from behind her, ten kunai were launched. She jumped away quickly, but was hit in the arm with two shuriken and kicked into a tree. She quickly rose and spotted Tenzo trying to hide. She pretended to look around for him and jumped towards the tree trunk she was near, before she launched herself at Tenzo using chakra and head butted him in the stomach, causing him to cough up some blood. Then she grabbed him by the shirt and threw him into the snare trap. As soon as he was caught, Yumiko dashed to finish him. He threw a kunai that she dodged easily. It sailed behind her, cutting wire and causing an explosive note to go off two seconds later and the blowback threw her back into the clearing. Tenzo swung sideways and cut the rope that was constricting his ankle and launched himself back into the clearing. He saw and limping Yumiko and threw a heavy punch at her face, but instead of feeling flesh, he felt nothing at all! His hand had gone right through her face!

"Clone Jutsu! I've been tricked!"

"I've got you right where I want you!"

She kicked Tenzo in the back and tried to punch the downed ninja, but he tripped her and rolled to his feet. She rolled to her back and threw a high mule kick at Tenzo's midsection as he was jumping. Unfortunately for the tactical Genin, getting hit in the family jewels isn't something you can strategize against or recover from quickly. He hollered in pain as he fell to the ground in a heap. Naruto's face turned white, Danuja and Kido winced, and Hotaka's and Akio's mouths were hanging open.

"Oh my gosh! Tenzo! Are you okay?! It was a total accident I swear!" Yumiko shouted in surprise as Tenzo held his groin in pain.

"Ohhh! God it hurts! I'm done, you w-win…!" Tenzo groaned in pain.

"I-I um…ahem. Tenzo of Team Six is out." Himari said as Hinata scooped up Tenzo and gave him some painkillers to help with his injuries.

Okay all of you, bring it in!" Naruto shouted so that way everyone could hear him. Once all the Genin were assembled, Akari spoke up.

"That was a great training session all of you. Keep it up and you guys will rock this upcoming Chuunin Exams! Everyone here has the rest of the day off to do whatever you want. Oh Team Fifteen, stay behind." At the mention of the next Chuunin Exams, Daiskue, Hanare, and Yumiko looked down with frowns, etched into their teenage features. They had lost the spar two to one, which meant their peers were going to participate in the Chuunin Exams and they weren't. It was that plain and simple. So when their Sensei uttered the next few words, they were astonished.

"And speaking of the Chuunin Exams…Himari and I have decided that Team Fifteen is going to participate in the Exams this year. On one condition… you brush up on your teamwork and communication." Akari said as Himari shot a hard glance at Hanare, who just looked away defiantly.

"Wait, wait, wait! Not that I'm or should I say we aren't happy about this, but why did you suddenly change your mind about letting us go into the Chuunin Exams this year? We lost the spar to Team Six by two to one." Daisuke spoke in confusion.

"Well it's because we were impressed with your individual skill and we believe that if you can harness these skills and have better teamwork, you can become a fierce unit on the battlefield. Winning or losing the spars wasn't the driving force behind our decision to enroll in the Chuunin Exams. It was the way you won or lost, the tactics you used, and how gracefully you accepted defeat." At their Sensei's praise, they began to have a mini celebration about going to the Exams.

"Although…" Himari said, regaining the attention of the Genin in question. "There's a catch…if you want to stay enrolled in the Chuunin Exams, you must promise us something."

"Anything Himari-Sensei!" They all chorused.

"Fix your teamwork and get along better. Trust me when I say that having the correct attitude will keep you and your teammates from suffering a pain filled death or capture. If we don't see any improvement, we will withdrawal your applications. Is that understood?" They all gulped in fear and nodded their heads quickly.

"Good, then you're all dismissed. Although if I were you guys, I'd head to lunch to discuss how you can work better and communicate as a unit." The trio nodded and went to go do just that.

"How do you think they'll do?" The Hokage said as he shunshin'd into the training field.

"I think they can go great things…in a few years. They need more time to develop Hokage-Sama. However, placing them in the Chuunin Exams should increase their developmental threshold and make them ready for war in less than a year." Danuja said as all of the Jounin present agreed. Hiruzen looked to Naruto, silently asking for the Time Traveler's opinion. The whiskered Shinobi pondered what he wanted to say for a moment and then spoke his mind.

"I think we should definitely place them all in the Chuunin Exams, and aim to have them becoming Chuunin. The faster they get stronger and rise up, the more ready they'll be for total war, tougher missions, and able to train other Shinobi and Kunoichi. We might be the biggest Hidden Village, but when it's two on one, and in some cases, three on two, we're going to need as much manpower and trained ninja as possible."

"Okay then. I shall take that into consideration as I approve the remainder of the applicants. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some paperwork with my name all over it." The Hokage said as he shunshin'd back to the Hokage's Office to combat the massive stack of paperwork from the Chuunin Exams, and the even bigger stack of documents for the daily village activities.

"Well then. I guess we'll see you guys in a couple of weeks." Hinata said to the other Jounin Team Leaders as she and Naruto began to leave the training ground to go home.

Likewise guys. May our teams be the best and make us proud!" Danuja spoke with anticipation as the team leaders parted ways.

On the way back to the shopping district of the village, Team Six had met up with Team Minato as they were coming back from the Hokage Tower garter submitting a report on their mission from a few days ago. Both teams wanting to get something to eat, they all headed to Ichiraku Ramen to have a few bowls and catch up with each other. As the two teams sat down in the quaint ramen stand, Obito decided to be the first one to spark up a conversation.

"So I heard you guys are going to be in the Chuunin Exams this year! Are you guys excited?"

"Yeah we are! Speaking of which, how was your Chunin Exams, Obito?" Kido asked.

"Did you pass on your first try?" Mai asked.

"Eh heh… no. I got beat by Gai on my first try. The second time around was much better." Obito reluctantly answered, embarrassment etched on his face.

"I don't mean to sound defeatist or anything, but don't be disheartened if you don't become Chunin the first time you take the exams. Very few people do." Rin said politely.

"I did." Kakashi said just to tease Obito.

"Your orders are ready!" Ayase, Teuchi's wife announced, as she placed all the bowls in front of her customers, much to the delight of a certain green haired ninja.After eating, and having some more small talk, Kakashi decided that it was about time to find Minato-Semsei and continue training. Minato was planning to give them the next day off so they could relax and rest, so they had to make the best of the hours of light left. However, when Kido exited Ichiraku, he accidentally bumped into somebody."Oops, sorry!" The Genin said."Watch where you're going you moron...hey, wait a minute… Kido?" the person Kido bumped into asked.

"Excuse me?" Naruto asked, as he scratched the back of his head. "Have we met before?""Oh come on! It has only been a few weeks and we're from different villages, but I didn't expect you to forget about me so soon!" the stranger insisted.

"Just messing with you Hideo! It's good to see you buddy. You too Fumiko!"

"And you too Kido." Fumiko said as Hideo was steaming in the background.

"Hey if you guys are here…then where's…" Kido said as a stone whizzed at his forehead. He quickly caught the pebble and looked in the direction of where the stone was thrown and saw a familiar looking Kusa ninja standing on a branch upside down.

"Akahiro! Of course, if your teammates are here, you would be here too. By the way…"

Kido was interrupted by somebody clearing her throat behind him. He turned around to see Kakashi, Obito, and Rin, awkwardly standing behind him."Kido, aren't you going to introduce us to your friends?" Rin asked as politely as possible. She had guessed that those Kusa kids were some new acquaintances of Kido and decided to give him some time to talk, but now it appeared as if Kido forgot about his friends."Oh, right! Sorry, my bad." The jade green haired Genin sheepishly replied. "These are my friends Kakashi, Obito, and Rin. Guys, these are Akahiro, Hideo and Fumiko. I befriended them on a mission to Kusa with my team about a month ago."They all exchanged greetings."So let me guess, you three are here for the Chunin Exams, right?" Rin asked."That's correct, miss," Fumiko replied."So that means that we might have to fight each other..." Kido said in realization."They won't be the only ones. Remember that all your former classmates participate in the exams as well," Rin reminded the blond."Yes, the world of the ninja is cruel and full of lies and deception. Sometimes, you might end up fighting somebody you considered a friend because he or she is at the wrong side of a conflict," Kakashi added. "But then again, there are lots of Genin from many villages participating. The odds of fighting somebody you know are pretty low."

"While I bear no ill towards any of you, I actually want to fight you in the exams."

"Oh no I'm a Jounin and these are my squad mates. They're Chuunin. The only one here who you can fight is Kido."

Kido merely smiled. "Sure. Though if we don't end up fighting in the exams, we can always spar before you leave."

"Either way, I'll be looking forward it."

"It was nice to see you again, Kido, as well as your friends, but we need to go to the hotel and unpack our stuff," Fumiko mentioned."Alright, I should get started on my training anyway. I hope you like Konoha!" Kido said as he waved the Kusa Trio goodbye.

"You have some very interesting friends Kido."

"Yeah I guess I do!" He said smiling.

Konoha's North Gate

Four ninja wearing Takigakure forehead protectors approached the entrance to the village. The group was composed by an adult man with tan skin and mint green hair, who wore shades, and a black scarf, and the standard Takigakure Jounin gear; which was a black Jounin vest, a teal long sleeve shirt, teal pants, blue sandals, a blue headband, and a single teal fingerless glove on his right hand.

He was leading three children, two girls and a boy, the girls were around thirteen, but the boy seemed to be about eleven. One of the girls had tan skin, wavy blue hair and yellow eyes. Her ninja garb was a white sleeveless training robe, a wide grey sash under a dark grey belt, red tight pants, black sandals, black fingerless forearm gloves, with a black headband.

The other had light skin, black eyes, and long, brown hair, styled in a high ponytail held together by a special red hair tie. She wore a teal long sleeved battle kimono top with a red obi belt, long white karate pants, thin black Shinobi sandals, and her headband was tied around her neck.

The boy also had pale skin, long brown hair, and inky black eyes, and he was chewing some wasabi flavored gum. His outfit was a teal short sleeved tunic with a thick black line going through the middle, grey shorts, bandages on his legs and arms going up to the upper calves as well as his elbows, and his sandals and headband were both blue.

The white female glanced at her blue haired teammate. "Reo? You look a bit tense. Is there something wrong?"

"What's not wrong would be a better question, Yami." The ocean haired girl, Reo, answered. "We're Taki ninja going to Konoha. I'm sure that you remember what happened between our villages all those years ago when we tried to assassinate the Shodai Hokage with Kakuzu!"

"Yeah, what if we're attacked and put in jail while Sensei is captured and they take his tailed beast when we set foot there, or one of the other villages doesn't like us and they try to attack us between exam phases or we need to run away through the mountains but our hands fall off due to the icy-""Can it, Shibuki!" Yami harshly cut in. "None of that is going to happen. That incident was more than a century ago. We're allies with Konoha and besides they wouldn't let the other villages hurt Sensei. Besides he can take care of himself. That's why he's our Sensei. Even if that did somehow happen, it's summer so there isn't going to be any snow in the mountains!"

"Still, I can't believe that Takikage-sama allowed you to come here with no other company than three Genin sensei," Reo said to the only adult in the group. She wasn't the only one who wondered what kind of witchcraft her sensei used on the Takikage to allow such a thing."Man it was booooring up in there! I needed a change of scenery, and Konoha's Chuunin Exams are always lit! The baddies are a bonus too. Everywhere you look, a hot chick be walking around here. That's why I asked my bro from the squad for a vacation! And I thought it would be a good experience for you to fight in these exams and meet somebody new, ya feel me man!" Arashi replied while making a gesture that resembled binoculars. Other people would have been extremely confused by Arashi's antics, but his students were already used to him and all of his odd mannerisms.

"Sensei, aren't you married?" Reo asked.

"Yeah, but it's all good young one! I'm just lookin'! As long as I ain't touchin' it's all good. Unless my wife hears about it…! She'll beat my ass black and blue for it! And since I've got Chomei on my team, she won't hold back because of the healing abilities he gives me!" He said as he bopped around comically then shivered as he remembered the last time he got into trouble with his wife for something stupid.

"Look, we're almost there." Shibuki pointed to the gates of Konoha, already in sight. I hope we don't get beaten up too badly!"

"Come on Shibuki! Have a little more faith in your team and yourself! Quit being so lame!" Yami said as she elbowed the young Shibuki.

When they were about to enter, they were stopped by two Chunin at the gate.

"Halt!" One of the Chunin, who was wearing a shoulder strap over his flak jacket, stated in a firm voice. "Who are you and what business do you have in Konoha?"

Arashi took a step forward. "What up bros! The name is Arashi, I'm reppin' Taki obviously! Y'all better be ready cuz my team is gonna rip all the other Genin a new one!"

Both Chunin sweat dropped as they glanced at each other awkwardly."What our sensei is trying to say is that we came here for the Chunin Exams. I'm sure you were notified that we were coming." Reo jumped in before things got even weirder."Yeah, sure, let me check it." The other Chunin replied, who was wearing glasses and had a scar across his left eye. After looking through a list, he saw that they were, indeed, expecting six teams from Taki to arrive. Five had already shown up. It seemed that this one was late for some reason. "Okay, it seems that you were telling the truth, but…Why were you so far behind the other five teams that are in the Exams?"

"Someone was floatin' around like a butterfly in dreamland, missin' somethin' way too important to leave behind! It stung worse than a bee when we had to retrace our steps and scour the area around the village for someone's supply bag. RIP to that ugly old piece of junk anyway. We got 'em a new one and came here quick as hell." Arashi said as he eyed Shibuki, who looked away sheepishly.

"We lost one of our teammates' mission gear on the way here and had to retrieve it.

"Okay what we need is your passports to verify that you are who you say you are."

The three Genin immediately pulled out their passports and handed them to the guards, who quickly verified them. The Jounin reluctantly handed the Konoha Chuunin his passport, but had a few words for them.

"Y'all should be ashamed of yourselves, not knowin' who I am! I'm the Naanabi's Jinkchuriki, Arashi no Kabutomushi Senshi! I'll wreck you sorry ass Chuunin anywhere, anytime you punk assses! Who's ass wants to fight lucky number seven!" Arashi shouted as he raised his killing intent.

"Sensei calm down! Please! Or we'll be disqualified before we even compete and father will be disappointed in us!" Shibuki said frantically as the Chuunin guards began to sweat and ready themselves for a fight. Arashi continued to glare at the Chuunin as they shakily drew their kunai in an attempt to defend themselves. He looked at Shibuki's pleading face as well as his other students and sighed. He released his killing intent and settled down.

"Okay fine…we'll kick rocks and head to our hotel. If y'all Konoha chumps cross me, I'll bust ya asses!" Arashi said as pointed at the Chuunin guards who were didn't care that he insulted them. They were just relieved that they didn't have to fight a Jinkchuriki and quickly handed Shibuki a tourist map with his village's hotel marked on the map.

"E-enjoy your stay in Konoha… damn t-that was close man!"

"Yeah. I thought for sure that he was going to attack us. We would've had to call for help from the Hokage. Anyway, let's get back to our card game." He said as he drew a card.

"Got any Kings?"

"Damn it!"

Outside the Hokage Tower—Day One of the Chunin Exams

All the Genin teams that took part in the Exams were ordered to wait outside the Hokage Tower at ten in the morning on the dot. Those who were already there noticed that there was a large deck in front of the tower with a oak podium resting on top.

Many teams decided to be there at least half an hour in advance, just to be safe. Team Six thought that they would be among the first teams to arrive, but they found out that another team had beat them to it.

"Hotaka, Akio, Tsunami! Hey guys!" Kido shouted as he waved to the group that was Team Nine.

"Oh hey Kido. Looks like my team beat yours here. I hope you're still going to buy me a month's supply of ninja tools and a week's worth of meals when my team and I become Genin first."

"Not a chance! Are you forgetting that you guys have to have a B-Rank mission or above under your belts? We've got ours! Plus there's no way you guys can take us down. Our teamwork is top notch and our skills are awesome!"

"Well we just completed B-Ranked support mission and we're totally gonna send you guys packing!"

We'll see about that! But it's great to see you guys again, even though we saw you guys three weeks ago…" Kido said as both teams shared a good laugh.

"Tch, keep living in fantasyland like that and I'll have to knock some sense into you during the Exams Kakroach!" A new voice uttered. Kido already know exactly who the voice belonged to as he shot back at the owner.

"Grrr…it's Kagayaki you second rate Uchiha! You must have a few screws loose if you think you can beat me."

"Well the Uchiha are unbeatable when they unlock their Sharingan so you'd better watch your mouth. Even an average Uchiha will run roughshod over you!"

"Whatever…you must be below average then. I'll beat you like a drum. Come talk to me once you've unlocked your level one baby Sharingan then. For now buzz off!"

"Then how about a fight right now Kakroach!"

"Are you trying to get embarrassed before the Exams even start? I'm much stronger than I was back at the Academy!" Kido warmed the Uchiha teen.

"Please! If you're talking about that trashy little Kekkei Genkai that everyone is saying you have, then I won't even need the Sharingan to pick you apart."

"Fine then. I'll take you on!"

The two took their stances as everyone around them made room for them to fight. Just as they ran at each other to attack, Kido's arm was suddenly stopped by Danzo and Kentaro's fist was grabbed by Chitose. Danzo surveyed the scene and passed his judgment.

"I would have thought your instructors informed you Genin of the no fighting rule before the Exams. You are lucky that I was seeing my daughter off and I stopped you instead of a Proctor, who would have immediately ejected you from the Exams. If you wanted to spar, you can go and pick a training field nearby. It's not very wise though since the Exams begin in roughly fifteen minutes.

"Ha I guess your beating will just have to wait Kakroach! I'll—urgh…!" Kentaro began to say, until Chitose started to crush down on his wrist. One look from Danzo and she had let the Uchiha go.

"Come now Chitose, you wouldn't want to break the no fighting rule and be ejected, would you?"

"You're right father. My team should be meeting me soon. Ah there they are. Oh hi Kido-kun!" She said as she waved her fingers at the green haired teen.

"Hi Chitose-Chan, nice to see you Danzo-san!"

"Chan?" The Rookie ninja thought to themselves. Hotaka, Tenzo, Tsunami, and Yumiko all winced at Mai's pained expression as she glowered at at Chitose, who was too busy giggling with her teammates and making flirty gestures at Kido, who was blushing and just settled for waving and scratching the back of his head.

"Oh Kido-kun, these are my teammates, Kiyoko Hiyoshi and Asuka Inuzuka. My Sensei is Keiko Yamanaka. Together we make Team 25!"

Asuka was wearing a black leather jacket with dark grey fur on the edges, black shorts, grey shin guards, blue sandals, a blue headband, and red Inuzuka fang marks on her cheeks. Her wild black hair was tied back into a high ponytail and her eyes were the standard Inuzuka black slits. Her canine partner was a large grayish white dog with green eyes and a rainbow headband named Niji.

Kiyoko was wearing a pink chinese style shirt with white pants adorned with pink accents on the outside of the legs, a red headband, red heeled sandals, and white knuckle gloves. A faint scar ran down her left arm. She had short light brown hair that reached her and brown eyes.

"Yo!" Asuka said while Niji barked out a greeting.

"Hi!" Kiyoko vocalized happily.

"Be smart and fight well daughter. You too Kido. I'll be waiting to see the both of you in the finals." Danzo said as he gave the Genin in the area one last look before heading back to his estate.

"Attention everybody! The First Exam is about to begin!" Somebody shouted.

Kido looked around at the number of Genin in attendance. There were eighty-seven teams, which meant two-hundred and sixty-one Genin. All the Genin present turned their sights to the podium, where a ninja dressed in a black leather trench coat with a bandana appeared out of nowhere, his evil smile unnerving most of the Genin who were present.

"Hello maggots and welcome to the Chunin Exams! My name is Ibiki Morino and I'm in charge of all you slime balls for this round of the Exams so listen up! First of all, if there's any teams that are inscribed but are not present here, said team is automatically disqualified. I want everyone to line up with your team in rows of ten teams understood? You've got one minute to do as I've asked."

Each team quickly got into position and into rows of ten. Some teams weren't lucky and Ibiki caught them out of line or the eleventh team in a column. Seven teams were disqualified before the Exam had even begun. One member of a Suna team spoke out in anger as his team was disqualified.

"What the hell! This isn't fair! How can you just disqualify us like that?! Who the hell are you to just kick us out like that?!"

"I am the Jounin proctor of this Exam, that's who I am! You however, are just some weak, no name Genin from Suna! What I say goes!"

"What! That reason isn't good enough! I demand a better answer!" The unnamed Suna Genin shouted in fury.

"You demand? You demand! You will never demand ANYTHING from a superior officer! But since you won't shut up and leave, and I don't feel the need to break every bone in your body right now, I'll tell you something." Ibiki shouted into the face of the angry Genin.

"Those that can't follow orders don't deserve to become Chuunin! This is a war that we're in! You make one mistake, hear one thing incorrectly, hesitate for even a second, and you and your squad WILL die! Now get out of my examination area!" Ibiki shouted as he flared a bit of his chakra, scaring the mouthy Genin.

"With that out of the way, I'll start explaining the rules. The first Test is to locate your assigned informant. Each team has a unique 'target' in possession of information but they don't know who it is. Every team will get a short list of character and personality traits and have to gather intel from the village and villagers to determine who their target is. In the scrolls that the Chuunin are handing you, there is a code you must tell your 'target'. In turn they will activate your scroll and you will need to bring it back here in order to succeed and move on to the next phase of the Exams." Ibiki said as Chuunin walked through the columns of people and handed them a purple scroll containing the information on each of their 'targets'.

"Picking the wrong target will result in your team's immediate disqualification. Fighting other teams will result in disqualification as well. Trying to cheat in any way as well as drawing too much attention to yourself, and using highly noticeable Jutsu will result in failure. You have only two hours to complete the task and return to this location. Remember, I have eyes on everyone here at all times. Screw up, cheat, or fight another team, and you'll be removed from the Exams. Does everyone have a scroll? If your team doesn't have one raise your hand." Ibiki asked. Nobody moved.

"Okay…then The Chuunin Selection Exams' First Round has begun! Remember…appearances aren't what they seem. Now scatter! Your time starts now!" The bandana wearing ninja said as everyone ran off in different directions.

Team 8 was reading the scroll and were well on their way to finding their target. After all, there weren't many men in Konoha taller than 6 feet with blonde hair and Akio's Kikai Bugs we're tracking the man's movements. Tsunami suddenly sparked up a topic of interest. Hey do you really think that Kido is dating that Chitose girl? I mean either way it's good gossip news!"

"What? Why are you thinking about that in the middle of our Exam?" Hotaka asked.

"I'm surprised you didn't know by now."

"Because you're nosy?"

"What? No! It's because he's our friend you big idiot, and so is Mai."

"Oh…right. What should we do if it's true?" Hotaka asked.

"Remember the mission guys. We can talk afterwards. My insects have just informed me that our target is nearby." Akio said, returning the focus back to the Exams.

"I am not nosy!"

Ibiki wasn't lying when he said he had eyes everywhere. There were multiple ninja, many of which were hidden Hyuga and Uchiha, who would watch the Chuunin hopefuls, picked the wrong targets or engaged in blatant rule-breaking, and lastly would warn Ibiki on a radio communications line if a team was to be failed or passed.

"You have selected the incorrect target! Team Guren of Ame, failed!"

"You attempted to forge a password! Team Ranma of Konoha failed!"

"You attacked another team! Team Ichigo of Kumo, failed!"

"You used an easily noticeable Jutsu! Team Renji of Suna, failed!"

"You drew too much attention to yourself by shouting!" Team Oro of Taki, failed!"

An hour had passed and most teams were still searching for their target. About a third of the remaining Examinees had completed the task and were waiting off to the side for further instructions. A team from Kumo ran back to the meeting area and tossed their scroll to Ibiki.

"Ha this test wasn't even that hard! We beat that test easily!"

"Ah I see…what's your name?"

"It's Ko, so don't forget it!"

"Team Ko, Failed!"

"B-but why?"

"In the real world, you wouldn't just hand a random ninja a scroll with important information on it that you just potentially risked your life for. You hand it to your Kage or to the Kage of the village you're giving it to. If I was an enemy ninja in disguise, you would've just given away classified information and not even known until it was too late. Now goodbye." Ibiki said with no remorse. Everyone else present watched as the trio of Genin sadly left the area. Meanwhile, Team 6 was closing in on their target in the shopping district. Kido stopped when they saw a small child run past and wave at them. The other two looked ahead at a Jounin standing around looking suspicious. He locked eyes with Tenzo and then looked away. Mai and Tenzo began walking towards him when a call from the Kagayaki scion stopped them.

"Guys wait…"

"What's wrong Kido-kun?"

"That Jounin. He's not our target. That kid over there is. Just look at the description. That Jounin has a sturdy jawline. Here it says an underdeveloped jawline. Only a kid would have that. Plus a Jounin would never look that conspicuous."

"That's true. The examiner did say that appearances can be deceiving…maybe you're right." Tenzo reminded his team as he pushes his glasses up.

"Okay then. Mai how about you? Do you think we should pick the kid?"

"Yes I think you're right Kido. I trust you." Mai spoke, coming to a conclusion.

The trio approached the young boy who was standing next to a fruit cart. Mai walked up to him and began talking to him.

"Hi, my name is Mai. What's your name little boy?"

"Ozeki! I'm in the ninja academy! Wow you're really pretty!"

"Thank you Ozeki! Now I just want to ask you a few questions. Is that okay?"

"Sure!"

"Okay. Do you recognize this code?" Mai asked as she showed him the scroll.

"Yeah! The scary man in the bandana gave me one to tell you guys!"

"Can you tell us what it is?" Kido interjected.

"Yeah! Why do you have windows on your face?"

"What?! Windows? They're called glasses!" Tenzo nearly shouted.

"No no that's the code. Let me put it on your scroll." Ozeki said as he wrote the phrase with a pen dipped in chakra ink. The phrase flowed for a moment and set into the paper. Out of nowhere, Ibiki appeared and cleared his throat.

"Team Kido of Konoha, passed!"

Team 6 began to celebrate for a moment before taking off to the Hokage Tower to officially pass the first portion of the Exams. On the way, they heard Ibiki's booming voice once more.

"Team Hotaka of Konoha, passed!"

"You picked the wrong target! Team Mirai of Kumo, failed!" The Kumo team's scroll was overflowing with chakra ink from selecting the improper target. Meanwhile, Chitose's Team was silently pursuing their suspected target. Chitose has known exactly who the target was since Danzo had told her who it was beforehand. She was purposely leading her team around to make sure it wasn't obvious that her father had helped her cheat the first Exam. They found their target and obtained the correct password.

"Team Chitose of Konoha, passed!"

There were five minutes left and the remainder of the Examinees were trickling in. Either dejected from failure, or tired and happy due to passing and making a mad dash for the Hokage Tower. Team 15 came running in at the last minute, tired and panting hard. Now, all the passed teams were once again in front of the podium. Ibiki was pleased with his work. Of all the eighty-seven teams that were initially competing, only fifty-eight managed to pass the first phase. Only two thirds. Thirty teams from Konoha, twelve Teams from Suna, four teams from Taki, three teams from Kusa, six teams Ame, and twelve teams from Kumo."Congratulations to all of you who passed the first part of the exam." Ibiki said, as the Genin congratulated each other.

"Nowadays, a lot of people think that being a ninja is just a matter of raw power. While power is important, controlling said power is just as important, as well as gathering intelligence. Sometimes, you will need to capture a ninja or locate an informant who has valuable intel without harming them or alerting enemies. Sometimes, appearances aren't what they seem. Information can come from any source and making sure that information gets to your Kage is top priority. Ninja who are unable to gather basic information or follow rules don't deserve to be Chuunin!"

But you have clearly demonstrated that you can think outside the box, that you can solve a problem without relying on raw power, but with your intellect. Now, you'll go into the next phase of the Exams, where your skills and worth as a Shinobi will be tested again. So meet the proctor of the second phase of the Exams." Ibiki said as he stepped aside.

A few moments later, the podium exploded into tiny splinters as a myriad of golden chains were sent up through it. The chains receded and a tall red headed woman leapt up from the rubble and her killing intent spiked, engulfing the entire area.

"What's up kids, I'm Kushina Uzumaki. and I'm the proctor of the second phase of the exam!" The Kyuubi wielding ninja introduced herself. Many Genin couldn't help but cower in fear before the powerful woman in front of them. "Those who think that you are already Chuunin just because you passed the first part of this test will have another thing coming, because my test will push you to your physical and mental limits, and will weed the weak from the strong. Take the rest of the day to rest, because you will need all the rest you can get if you truly desire to pass the second phase of these Exams!"

"Meet me tomorrow at Training Ground Forty-Four. Make sure you bring supplies for at least a week, as well as the scroll you obtained on this test. It's about time you learn the reality of the ninja world. That's all for now."

 **Da da daa da daaaa! That's Chapter 12! Alright, alright, alright! Hanks for reading guys. Any questions, comments, concerns, or ideas you have, send me a review so I can get back to you on them. Stay Flamin' my good Hotman!**


	13. Chapter 13: The Chuunin Exams Continue

**_"Why do you look like Peter Parker?"_**

 ** _"Because I am Peter Parker."_**

 ** _"Then why aren't you dead? And why is your hair different? And why are you older? And why is your body...a different shape?"_**

 ** _"I'm pretty sure you just called me fat."_**

 ** _"No no, I just-"_**

 ** _"Hey listen you don't look so hot either kid! Most superheroes don't wear their own merch."_**

 ** _"Are you ghost?"_**

 ** _"No."_**

 ** _"Are you a zombie?"_**

 ** _"Stop it."_**

 ** _"Am I a zombie?"_**

 ** _"You're not even close!"_**

 ** _"Are from another dimension? Like a parallel universe where things are like this universe, but different? And you're Spider-Man in that universe, but somehow traveled to this universe, but you don't know how?"_**

 ** _"Wow that was really just a guess?"_**

 ** _Heyo! I'm back from the grave! There's been a lot going on in my life. Why can't I just relax, sit back, and watch some clouds like Shikamaru?_**

 ** _Anyway thank you/you're welcome david.teague.3950 I'm glad you like my story. I hope that you continue to read it._**

 ** _ShadowDeathSkull: In time young grasshopper. If it happened right away, it wouldn't be interesting._**

 ** _bloody dragon fang: Thanks bromigo. I will be taking what you said into consideration._**

 ** _Well on to the story!_**

 ** _Chapter 13: The Chuunin Exams Continue_**

 ** _The Next Day—Konoha Main Street_**

The next afternoon, Team Six and Team Nine has begun the walk to the location of Training Ground Forty-Four together, talking about what they had done to pass the first portion of the Chuunin Exams.

"So we were looking all over for our target and I saw this kid skip right past us. I don't know how I knew he was our target. He just had one of those looks on his face. It's hard to explain, but I knew it was him. There was a decoy Jounin just standing out in the open who was just looking around and waiting for someone to come talk to him!" Kido said as he paused for dramatic effect before continuing once again.

"We asked the kid the questions and he ended up pissing Tenzo off by asking if he had windows in his face."

As soon as Team 9 heard what was asked of Tenzo, the non glasses wearing members busted out into hysterical laughter.

"Ugh come on guys, not funny!" Tenzo said.

After a minute, the two members of Team 9 calmed down and Kido resumed the story.

"So the crazy part was what he said to Tenzo was also our code. I think it was meant to make Tenzo yell loud enough to get us disqualified from the Exams. It nearly worked, but he reigned himself in before he shouted. After that the examiner appeared and passed us. So who did you guys end up finding? Was anyone we know?"

"Well we just used Akio's Kikai insects to find the person who's chakra was on the scroll that fit our description. It took some time to filter everyone and get the correct chakra signature, but it led us to the Yellow Flash! He was so cool!"

"I know right? He's our sensei's older brother!"

"No way! That explains why Haruto-sensei is so strong!" The group of young ninja continued talking amongst each other until they ran into Chitose and her team arguing with Kentaro.

"Fight me!"

"No." She simply said.

"I demand that you fight me right here, you clanless wench!" Kentaro ordered the older Kunoichi. The group watching as well as her and Kentaro's teammates could tell she was getting upset.

"No thanks kid. It's a hot day and we're all on edge because of the next phase. Don't make me report you to the Exam Proctors." She said trying to dissuade him. It clearly wasn't enough as he drew a kunai.

"I don't care if it's ninety degrees or nine hundred degrees. I'm giving you ten seconds to decide. If you pick wrong, I'll decide for you!" She sighed heavily. She really wanted to put the young Uchiha in his place, but she was ordered by her father not to start any fights outside of the Exams. By this time, all the teams watching had surrounded the quarreling pair of ninja.

"If you're so adamant about fighting me, we can fight in the Exams. I'm sure we can do it in the next phase." She said as she turned away.

"Fine, I'll crush you like the worm you are in the next phase you stupid bitch."

"You little asshole!" Chitose shouted as she spun on her heel and nearly backhanded the younger Genin. She was stopped by Kido's hand grabbing her wrist, keeping her hand from knocking the cocky smirk from the Uchiha's face, who to his credit, did not flinch.

"Chitose-chan, he's not worth getting kicked from the Chuunin Exams. We should just leave and head over to Training Ground Forty-Four." Kido said to the daughter of Danzo.

"Fine. You're right. Besides, now I get to find out how you guys did in the first round of the Exams!" She said excitedly. Mai rolled her eyes at the ROOT member.

"We did pretty well!" Kido said as he retold the story, stopping to share a laugh at Tenzo's expense.

"Wow that's some pretty impressive ninja insight Kido-kun."

"How did you guys do on your information retrieval?" Kido asked the dark haired girl.

"Oh it was really short and easy. We just spotted a really conspicuous Chuunin and knew it was him." Chitose expertly lied. In reality, Danzo had used one of his ROOT agents to figure out who was Chitose's target beforehand and incapacitated him with a Genjutsu that made him give up the code as soon as Chitose walked up to him. Her teammates had been looking elsewhere so they hadn't witnessed anything that occurred and took Chitose's word for it. She decided to turn the conversation towards a different direction, so she didn't arouse any curiosity.

"So Kido, I heard you have a super cool Kekkei Genkai. Can I see it?"

"Sure!" He quickly agreed.

"Kido-kun! Your mom said not to use your Kekkei Genkai for no reason! You don't want to give anyone an edge against you."

"Aww I really want to see it!" She said as she used one of the oldest and longest standing Kunoichi techniques in history, the Puppy Dog Eyes Jutsu.

"Yeah I don't see why not. Besides, she's a good friend. She's not going to do anything bad. You're worrying too much Mai. Let's head to the park." He said.

They were situated at a nearby park that was mostly unused. Tenzo created an Earth wall so Kido didn't damage any part of the park.

"Okay guys… stand back." He said as he weaved hand signs.

 **"Shakuton: Tencho Bakufu no Jutsu!"**

This time, instead of a fist sized ball being fired from Kido's hand, a pebble sized blast materialized on Kido's index finger and fired it through the air like a gun. It flew into the earthen wall and nearly disintegrated the stone barrier.

"Wow Kido-kun! That was so amazing! I had no idea you could do something like that." She exclaimed in surprise as she expertly hid the fact that she already knew the young prodigy was at Chuunin level proficiency with his Kekkei Genkai.

"So…you think it's cool that I have a Bloodline?"

"Cool? No…I think it's hot. See ya at Training Ground Forty-Four." She said slyly as she sashayed away.

"I'm hot? I'm hot. I'm HOT!" Kido said starting from a whisper and raising his voice to a shout.

 **"Suiton: Shibuki no Jutsu!"**

A small ball of water was pulled from a nearby fountain and dropped on Kido's head, soaking his thick green hair, the upper shoulder area, and the nape of his neck.

"That'll cool you off!"

Mai strided towards Training Ground Forty Four in a huff. Her two teammates quickly followed after her after Kido used a warming jutsu to dry himself off. Once they got to the Exam area, the members of Team Six were all stunned by what was in front of them.

Fifty-eight teams were gathered before a triple layered, forty-five foot tall chain link fence with chakra seals lining the walls. Behind that fence was an overgrown wooded terrain that seemed sinister and twisted. The landscape seemed completely alien to any they had ever seen in Konoha before. As the teams waited for Kushina to arrive, a few of them started to get antsy.

"Hey you Suna trash, move outta my spot!" A Kumo ninja shouted as he shoved a nearby Suna ninja.

"You'd better watch your mouth and your hands or you won't have any, you Kumo prick!" The Suna Genin replied harshly.

"Or what?! I'll electrocute you so bad, you'll piss your damn pants!"

"What did you just say to me?! I'll cut your hands right off!!" He said, drawing a wakizashi blade.

"Oi, you can't talk to my team leader like that you little bastard!" Another Suna ninja growled fiercely.

"That's it!!" The angry Kumo ninja shouted as he quickly began to weave hand signs. The Suna Genin brandished his wakizashi and the other Genin puked out a kunai. Just as the Kumo Genin was finishing his last hand sign, Kushina and two of her Shadow Clones appeared behind him and the two Suna Genin and slammed their faces into the hard earth, knocking them all unconscious. She looked at the remaining three members of both teams, and threw them their comrades. All six of you are disqualified. Hand me both of the scrolls, and leave the Exam area… or else!" They all cowered in fear as Kushina began to advance towards them. The Genin dropped the scrolls and ran back to their hotel rooms with their unconscious teammates as fast as they could.

"Heh heh, what a bunch of idiots. Getting booted out for fighting is completely idiotic." One of the Chuunin aides said to Kushina. She nodded her head in agreement as she unsealed the scrolls and threw them as hard as she could into the Forest of Death, not concerned with their landing. All of the Genin went silent after her show of authority and knew it was best to keep quiet.

"Since that seems to have shut everyone up, I think now's as good a time as any to get started-dattebane!"

"Agreed Kushina-senpai!"

"All right! Now listen up Chuunin Hopefuls because I'm not going to explain this twice. The very first thing we'll need to do is have each and every one of you guys sign one of these consent forms." She smiled at them, giving off a slightly predatory vibe.

"They clear Konoha of any liability should you be killed or terribly maimed while competing in the Exams. Make sure you sign them and turn them in. I mean I wouldn't want to get in any trouble-dattebane." She laughed. No one else there seemed to think it funny.

"Now I'll explain what the second phase entails and then you can sign your forms and turn them in to the little stand behind me. To put it simply the second phase will be a no holds barred survival test. Within this training ground is a tower located roughly twenty miles from all of the gates. The training ground also contains forest, a river, and all sorts of wild animals. Within this training ground you're going to go through a survival test. You are free to use any weapons, jutsus or tactics at your disposal. The test is a fight to the death version of, a scavenger hunt or in this case, a key hunt."

From out of her pockets she produced a single golden key.

"There is a Key of Life, which is in the scroll of every team from the last Exam. If you don't have your scroll, you are disqualified."

Nobody moved a muscle.

"Good you remembered to bring the scroll. The Key of Life must be used to open the second door to the tower. Now to unlock the outer door to the tower, which by the way is located on any side of the Tower, you're going to need a Key of Death. The goal is to acquire three. The keys are scattered throughout the forest. You can do as you like to get the keys from your opponents. There are fifty-eight teams here. So your goal is to hold on to your own keys, capture the others from the opposing teams, and bring both to the tower in the center."

"Wait, so no more than twenty teams can possibly pass this test?" Hiroki spoke up.

Kushina nodded. "That's right. Now there are some conditions. First of all, there's a time limit. You have exactly one hundred and twenty hours to accomplish your goal and reach the tower with all three Death Keys and one Life Key."

"What?! That's five days!" Fumiko shouted. "What in the world are we supposed to do for food?""That's your problem. The forest is filled with nature's bounty. Of course it's also filled with poisonous plants, man eating monsters, traps, and enemies. Sleep tight." Kushina paused to let them take in the first condition.

"Second of all, only a full three man squad can complete the assignment. Any squad with a member killed, crippled, or rendered incapacitated in any way fails."

"So as long as you kill or cripple one of the opposing team's members, they automatically fail?" A bloodthirsty Suna Genin named Goken asked as an evil smile marred his face.

"That's correct. The third rule is you may not open the tower doors until you have all the keys. As Chuunin you will be trusted to completely fulfill your mission parameters without taking shortcuts. Consider this a test of your perseverance."

"What happens if we try to open the doors before we get all the keys?" Michiru asked.She smiled. "That's for those who open them to know. All right now, that's all the explanations you're going to get. Now turn in your consent forms at the hut there. We'll exchange a gate number for three consent forms. Then we will take each squad to their assigned gate. You will all begin at the same time and at the same distance from the tower. Oh, and one final piece of advice." She looked them all over. "Just don't die!"

"Helpful." Kido muttered.

XXXXXXXXXX

"We will set up a base camp and acquire food and water." Kentaro said as he looked around. "We will then go on the offensive after dark when the other teams are most likely resting. If you find that Shinura wench or her teammates, tell them I'm waiting to fight her.

"Agreed!" Hiroki confirmed."Gotcha!" Michiru nodded.Kentaro nodded as well. His team was going to do great.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Okay it's simple, just tail a team until we see them rest after picking up keys. We jump them, get their keys, and everything is all good." Akahiro said.

"Let's do it!" Fumiko chanted. "I don't want to be in here too long without food."

"Seems easy enough." Hideo agreed.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Just follow my lead. I'll kill anyone that's in my way, so stay behind me." Goken said.

XXXXXXXXXX

Chitose and her two teammates waited by their gate in silence until Kiyoko spoke up. Have you ever competed in the Chuunin Exams Chitose-chan?"

The false Genin shook her head. "But I know exactly what to do though. Just wait for my signals and follow my lead and we'll win this."

"Yeah that makes sense. That's why we made you Pack Leader!" Asuka shouted.

"But if you see that Uchiha weasel or his teammates, tell him I'm waiting for him." Chitose said with a darkened expression.

"Great! I wanna see you beat that Uchiha pup's ass!"

XXXXXXXXXX

"Oh geez. It's really about to start! I hope we don't run into any strong teams or crazy people."

"Quit being so negative Shibuki!" Yami said as she swatted the back of his head.

"Come on Yami. Be nicer to Shibuki-kun. He's still just a kid. He's just scared is all."

"Fine Reo. But you'd better not run away Shibuki! If you do, I'll give you a savage beating!"

XXXXXXXXXX

"Akio I'm counting on you and your awesome little bugs to be our eyes." Hotaka said, trying to give his team a last minute pep talk.

"Of course. I'll work to the best of my ability." Akio said with his usual lack of feeling."Tsunami I want you to stay vigilant for any keys in the air."

She nodded eagerly. "Of course Hotaka."

Hotaka felt as excited as he had fighting those gangsters in his first real combat. He had a little bit of a smile as he anticipated a real challenge.

XXXXXXXXXX

Hanare looked at her two teammates and tried to encourage them. "Alright this is it Team Fifteen! This is going to a brutal desperate free for all where everyone we run into will be an enemy out to attack us. Now what are we going to do?!" She waited for them to shout, 'win' loudly and in unison."Hide and let them beat each other up?" Daisuke suggested."Uh…I don't know. Retreat?" Yumiko offered.Hanare just started at the most laid back Genin in her graduation class with an irritated look on her face. She then buried her head in her hands and screamed.

XXXXXXXXXX

Kido looked at his teammates. "All right the longer we stay in this place the more beaten up we're going to get. We need to find three keys. Let's head straight for the Tower. I know someone who has what we need will run into us and depending on how many keys we have and how many they have, we can just walk right in and get inside the Tower." He looked where the sun was. "All right there are maybe three hours of sunlight left in the day. Let's try and get this done before night."

Tenzo nodded. "Sounds good to me. We can get first call on the rooms in the tower.""If we do this right we can probably surprise whoever we run up against." Mai pointed out.Kido nodded. "Let's make this as quick and easy as we possibly can."

The signal horn suddenly blared to life as all the gates flew open and fifty-eight three man teams raced into the battle zone.

XXXXXXXXXX

An hour and a half later, after already collecting a key hanging on a rope high in the tree line, Team Six was nearly to the Tower. The sounds of a battle drew them off course. They stopped just outside a clearing where they saw the defeated bodies of some Ame ninja. Standing over them were three sweaty and exhausted Suna Genin.

"Ugh those guys were pain in the neck to beat. At least we have a key now." The leader said.

"You didn't have to beat the guy as bad as you did though. He looks dead." The female of the group said.

"Well that asshole and his teammates decided to make a run for it and use all of these damned water clones! I was going to make sure that he suffered and stayed down!" The hot headed member of the team growled.

"Well let's get moving. This forest gives me the creeps. It's like everything in here is out to get us." The leader of the group said.

"Hey wait, what about rest and some food?" The hot headed member of the team complained.

"We should move now, you know before any enemy teams come this way and attack us you idiot. I bet at least one team heard our fight. So we can rest after we get out of here. So get up so we don't fail. We can rest later." The girl said.

"Alright then. But if we run into another team, I'm holding it over your heads!" As the three Suna Genin jumper back into the woods.

Team Six quickly turned and jumped into the thicket after the Suna teens. They kept a good distance between the other team and trailed them successfully for half an hour until they landed in a clearing and let their guard down. Kido nodded to his teammates and they got into position.

"Come when I give the signal." Kido said.

"Good that outta give us some distance between us and the enemy ninja. Go ahead and break out those ration bars I gave you guys."

Just as one of the Suna teens were unwrapping the protein bars, Kido jumped down from the trees and launched a haymaker at the Leader's jaw. The shock of getting punched when off guard and the force of the attack sent him skidding on his back, though he quickly recovered and was on his feet with a drawn kunai.

"Just who the hell are you kid?!" The hot headed Genin yelled.

"Kido Kagayaki! But for now I'm just a distraction! My teammates are gonna knock you two out." He said pointing at the girl and the hothead.

"Ha you expect us to fall for that cheap trick? Don't make me laugh!"

"I warned you…" Kido said in a singsong voice as both of them were knocked out by Tenzo and Mai. They latched onto the leader's arms and held him in place. As Kido rushed in, his right hand glowing a menacing orange.

 **"Shakuton: Moeru Ken no Jutsu!"**

The two jumped away as soon as Kido's orange colored punch landed. The punch was buried in his gut and exploded outward, dehydrating him and sending him crashing into a tree. His clothes on his torso were burned off and his pants were torn. Kido rooted through his kunai pouch and found two silver Death keys.

Kido also made a point to dig through the rest of their pockets and took some of their food along with them.

"Hey can't let it go to waste right guys?" He said with a smile.

Mai shrugged her shoulders. "I guess not. Want some Tenzo?"

"Yeah why not." He said catching a protein bar. As the two unraveled their meal, Kido stopped them.

"We should eat on the way guys. We should head to the Tower. It's already nightfall and it'll only get more dangerous from here. Let's move. Don't engage any teams. Well only stop to help one of our own or to avoid detection."

"Right!" The two said in unison before jumping back into the twisted branches.

As they were heading to the Tower, Chitose and her team were leaping through the forest after defeating a group of fighting Kumo and Taki teams that were too exhausted to fight off the fresh veteran team. In the end they had pocketed two keys and were resting in a clearing when they heard some rustling in the tree line. A kunai was launched and embedded itself into the ground at Chitose's feet.

"Show yourselves." Asuka growled as her canine familiar bared its fangs.

Nothing happened, then three figures dropped into the nearby bushes. Team Twenty Five waited for a moment, then Kentaro and the rest of Team Fourteen emerged from the bushes. Chitose's frown grew into a thin smile as she looked at her teammates, who backed off.

"Ready to get handled you spoiled Uchiha brat?"

"In your dreams. I'll wipe the floor with your peasant face." He said as his two teammates stepped back as well.

"It's just us. Leave the other four out of it."

"Gladly. It'll make it even sweeter when I pummel you."

Kentaro made the first move, jumping in the air and throwing several shuriken and a smoke pellet at Danzo's Daughter. Easily blocking them, she went on the offensive and met him in the air as he was unprepared for her speed. She threw a solid punch at his mouth, but her hand went right through it.

"A Bunshin!"

Kentaro jumped from a nearby tree branch, his Sharingan a blazing red with one Tomoe in each of his eyes, and kicked her in the ribs. She had partially blocked the kick, but the sting of Kentaro's chakra laced snap kick caused her to wince. She grabbed his leg, but he twisted around and threw a punch at the top of her head, which she blocked. He twisted once more and launched a toe kick at her head. She grabbed his foot at the last second and used the momentum to spin him and toss the teen into a tree. He struck the tree back first. Although he got up quickly, he winced at the pain it had caused him.

She landed in the middle of the clearing and Kentaro saw his opportunity. He weaved a few hand seals and gathered up some of his chakra.

 **"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"**

The spot she was in was scorched and resembled a piece of charcoal. She avoided taking any damage by using the Substitution Jutsu and appeared near the him.

 **"Fuuton: Shinkūgyoku!"** (Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere)

Seven cylindrical wind spheres erupted from Chitose's mouth and while Kentaro had the Sharingan, the widespread attack was too much to dodge and he was slammed by three of the Vacuum Spheres. The force of the Wind Jutsu sent him tumbling backwards. By the time he recovered, Chitose was already on him, launching a heavy assault against the off balance Uchiha Genin. For every strike he blocked, three more landed. She finally ducked under a portly executed punch and spun rapidly, connecting with a spinning heel kick to his jaw that sent him crashing into a tree. He slumped down to the soft patch of leaves in front of him. Raising his head, he locked eyes with Chitose. He saw her jump up in the air before she left the ground. Kentaro quickly stood up and threw a six shuriken at Chitose.

 **"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**

Suddenly six shuriken multiplied into sixty. Dodging wasn't an option so she drew two kunai and blocked most of the steel stars, but she had a few shurikens stuck in her arms and leg as well multiple shallow cuts.

"What is this? Why am I moving faster than before? Is it… it has to be." Kentaro said as he looked his reflection using a kunai.

"Yes! My Sharingan is at level two! This pitiful wench is dead now! And after her…you're going down Kagayaki!"

Kentaro pointed at his eyes with an evil smirk playing across his angular features. "My stage two Sharingan has been unlocked. I'll have to thank you for that somehow. But for now, it's lights out for you!"

Kentaro quickly formed a series of hand seals and unleashed a B-Rank Uchiha favorite.

 **"Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu!"**

Kentaro spit a substantial line of flames from his mouth that traveled forward straight at Chitose. Upon contact with the ground, the area was engulfed in flames. Chitose had used the substitution Jutsu, leaving nothing but a scorched log in her place. The young Uchiha quickly scanned his surroundings and it not for his newly acquired stage two Sharingan, he would've been knocked out cold when she burst from the ground. He leaned back and narrowly avoided a dangerous uppercut. As he leaned back, from her punch, he locked eyes with her.

 **"Genjutsu: Sharingan!"**

Chitose's body went completely static as he punched hard in the stomach and again in the face sending her skidding across the dirt. She flipped to her feet and wiped the bit of blood from her mouth.

"Dammit! This Uchiha brat's new Sharingan is really irritating me. I guess it's time to stop holding back!"

 **"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!"** (Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu)

Seven small balls of Fire made a beeline for Chitose, but the Shimura Genin has other plans.

 **"Fuuton: Daitoppa!"** (Wind Style: Great Breakthrough)

A large wall of wind was suddenly whipped up and extinguished the oncoming projectiles and slammed into Kentaro, planting him firmly into a tree. While she was still maintaining the Jutsu, she tossed a kunai at Kentaro, which due to the wind, sped up and impaled Kentaro through the shoulder. Once the wind stopped, he fell to the ground and pulled the kunai from his shoulder and tossed it to the ground in frustration.

"What's the matter? Can't keep up? I thought you were 'going to wipe the floor with my peasant face?' Can't do it?" The Shimura Genin taunted. Kentaro stood up and his Sharingan spun rapidly.

 **"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu! Fuuton: Daitoppa!"**

The regular Uchiha favorite Jutsu was increased three times in size due the wind Jutsu. Chitose's eyes widened in surprise at the powerful technique just before the Jutsu made contact and exploded on Chitose.

Kentaro fell to his knees in exhaustion. The dual Jutsu took a ton of chakra out of him and sweat gathered around his neck and forehead. The area cleared up and Chitose was lying on the burned grass with severe third degree burns and tattered clothing. He had done it. Kentaro smirked as he struggled to get to her feet. He looked over at Chitose's prone form and was shocked when it suddenly poofed away.

"What?!"

 **"Fuuton: Shinkū Taigyoku!"** (Wind Style: Vacuum Great Sphere)

A crushing sphere of wind chakra was expelled from Chitose's mouth, catching Kentaro off guard and slamming him hard through the same tree he had already hit. She was on him in an instant with a kunai placed at his throat.

"You lose Uchiha." She said to the defeated teen.

"H-how did y-you fool my S-Sharingan…?"

I copied your little trick and used a Shadow Clone. Now, you will leave me alone or next time I won't hold back. Oh and we're going to help ourselves to one of your keys." She said as she fished one of the three keys that Team 14 had managed to collect from his kunai pouch.

"S-Shadow Clone? What…what is a Shadow Clone?"

"It's a secret little Uchiha. See you inside the Tower, if your team can even make it that far." She said as her team jumped away towards the Tower. Michiru and Hiroki ran to their team leader and helped him to a sitting position.

"Kentaro-kun! Are you alright?" Michiru asked in concern.

"N-not really. I need to train more so I can defeat her! At least I know her fighting style and I learned a new Jutsu to use against the Kagayaki."

"You almost had her beat. Your stage two Sharingan really is amazing!"

"What should we do Kentaro?" Hiroki asked.

"Hiroki I need you to carry the keys. We now need one more key to pass since that wench took one from us. Fortunately, I've noticed that each key has a unique and small chakra signature that my Sharingan can detect. It'll be easier to f-find a team that has what we want. So we'll hunt down another team that has what we want."

"Wait Kentaro, what about your injuries and your chakra reserves?" Hiroki questioned.

"Urgh…in my pouch I have powdered leaves for a special Uchiha tea that will heal most non fatal wounds, bruising, and superficial damage. I need one of you to go get some water from a nearby river so I can drink the powder. After that we'll just get some rest."

"Okay Kentaro-kun. I'll fetch you some water. I always carry a flask in my kunai pouch." The Akimichi Genin explained as she removed the flask from her tool pouch.

"Okay I guess I'll guard Kentaro. If you aren't back in fifteen minutes I'm going after you. Don't confront anyone if you see them. Just come back and tell us."

"Right. I'll be back in fifteen minutes."

As soon as she leapt away, Kentaro hopped on top of Hiroki's back. "We're going to need some wood for fire and a flint stone. I know what flintstones look like, but I can't get them on my own. Let's go get some."

After several minutes of looking, Kentaro had activated his Sharingan and soon enough, they had tracked down a key under a rock. They returned back to the area with a key and some flint at the same time Michiru returned with the water.

"Guys. I saw another team out there. I think it was a Kusagakure team fighting a Kumogakure team. The Kusa team looked like they were winning but I saw a few of their abilities. They're not too far from here so I think we should get out of here or get high up I the trees so they can't spot us."

"Good thinking. Afterwards, we'll head to the Tower. I found a key when we were looking for flint. So once I'm healed, we'll head straight for the Tower."

XXXXXXXXX

"Geez what the hell happened to these guys?" Hotaka asked as he and the rest of Team Nine stumbles upon a mess of blood and entrails. Akio and Tsunami averted their eyes and Hotaka lost his lunch to the gory scene. In front of them, were three dead Konoha Genin, or what remained of them. The stench of blood and rotting flesh stained the entire clearing.

"W-whatever did this can't be human…this is way too brutal. Even for ninja…" Hotaka stammered out as his teammates agreed with him, making sure to keep their eyes away from the bloodbath.

"Hotaka, Tsunami… something is wrong. My insects are going wild. I think whatever killed these Genin is stalking us." He said with a hint of panic in his voice.

As he said that, they all heard a low growl and an overgrown Kodiak bear prowled into the small clearing. The rookie Genin were instantly on guard with kunai drawn. The beast stood up on its hind legs and it's height measured up to a whopping 20 feet instead of its natural 10 feet.

"Fuck! This forest really does mutate whatever lives in it. These things are only supposed to be like, ten feet tall and that's their maximum height! This thing is around twenty feet tall!" The mint haired teen shouted.

The behemoth of a bear let loose an earth shaking roar and suddenly charged at Team Nine, causing them to jump in separate directions. Ultimately, the bear went after Hotaka, slashing the tree behind him leaving deep gashes in the bark. Hotaka threw some kunai at the animal, but the blades bounced off of the bear's hide like rocks off of a steel wall. Hotaka jumped away from a swipe but one of the bear's claws had made contact with his arm and cut him, leaving a deep gash on his arm. The bear turned and backhanded Tsunami into a tree after a failed attempt at a surprise attack. Akio caught her and let loose an attack of his own.

 **"Kikaichū no Jutsu!"** (Parasitic Insects Jutsu)

Akio raised his arm and a wave of insects flew out from sleeve of his grey coat, surrounding and latching on to the giant animal, sucking its chakra away. Although the bear was being drained of chakra, it wasn't slowing down and Akio couldn't feel any chakra going into his bugs. That fact made Akio very suspicious. He looked at Hotaka's arm and noticed that the gash wasn't bleeding, it was just an open wound.

"I see…" Akio muttered. "KAI!" All around them, the world started to melt away until the bear and the gory remains had disappeared and all that was left was the three falsely dead Konoha Genin. Akio quickly released his two teammates from the Genjutsu and they reformed their positions. They were staring at an Ame team twenty feet from them who were wearing respirators and

"So you managed to see through our Genjutsu? At least you Rookies aren't as terrible as we thought. Let's see how you do in a fight!" The leader from the Hidden Rain confidently shouted. Hotaka reacted instantly.

 **"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!"**

Ten small balls of fire were shot at Team Nine's opponents causing them to scatter. Two of the projectiles struck an Ame Genin, who stumbled and cried out in pain. Tsunami pinned him to a tree with several kunai, immobilizing him.

 **"Kikaichū no Jutsu!"** Akio said calmly as several hundred of his kikai bugs latched onto the bodies of the other two Ame ninjas, knocking them out in a matter of seconds.

"Heh other than that Genjutsu, those guys were losers!" Hotaka saidas they all searched the two unconscious members of the Rain squad. Finding nothing, Tsunami began to search the teen pinned to the tree.

"You'll never find it on me! We've hidden our keys! Now get lost!" He barked. Hotaka and Akio came running when they heard the ninja shouting. Hotaka quickly punched him in the stomach. The man

"Where's the key?!"

"You'll have to do much better than that if you wanna get anything outta me brat!"

"Hotaka-kun, let me try. I think I can get the information we want from him."

"Che… as if I'd ever spill any info to snot nosed Genin Kunoichi!"

Tsunami casually pulled out a kunai and twirled it around on her finger. "Here's the get down, you're going to tell me where you hiding your team's key or we can spend an hour finding out what color the inside of an Ame ninja is." She said in a voice dripping with honey as she held the kunai to his throat. He was scared, but not enough to tell the girl where the key was at.

"S-screw you bitch!"

"Wrong answer." Hotaka said as he grinned at the captured ninja.

"Not wise." Akio said as he pushed his glasses up onto his face.

"You know, I was hoping you'd say that." Tsunami said as she stabbed him in the shoulder with a blue colored kunai.

"That's it?! That's nothing! In Amegakure we—aaughh!!!!" The teenaged Amegakure ninja began to say before he let loose a blood curdling scream that made the birds in the trees take flight and began to writhe in pain from the mysterious weapon. When she removed the special kunai from his shoulder, it was less blue than before and glistening with blood.

Tsunami snatched the Rain ninja by his shaggy hair and pulled his head up to her eye level and spoke in the same sweet voice that promised pain as before. "You see what I told you? So you wanna tell me where it is now? Or should I…take another stab at this?"

"Okay okay! I'll tell you! Just please don't do that anymore!!"

"I'm waiting…"

"It's under a moss covered rock marked with the Hidden Rain Village symbol about two hundred feet from where we came from! Just please don't do that again!" He wailed.

"If you're lying, I'll come back and sever whatever is hanging between your legs!"

"I'm not lying! Please don't do that! Anything but that!!" The Rain ninja pleaded.

"Okay then. Tsunami you're with me. Akio hold the position here and make sure they don't try anything fishy."

"Understood Hotaka-San. I already have my kikaichu on them. They will not be going anywhere."

"Great! We'll be back soon."

Once they arrived at the designated area, they moved the moss covered boulder and pulled the key out from under the one hundred pound stone. Hotaka pocketed the key and they soon returned to the clearing. They had confirmed that the key was real and they began to walk away.

"H-hey wait! What about me? Aren't you going to untie us?"

Without looking back Hotaka been "Why on earth would I untie you? If you're any sort of Shinobi, you'll figure a way out of those ropes."

Sometime later, when the Rain ninja was free of his restraints, he began to free his still unconscious teammates when a dark chill permeated through his spine. He turned his head slowly and saw at the other end of the clearing three Suna ninja. Goken and his teammates Yashamaru and Rika walked into the clearing.

Goken was a fairly tall ninja with messy ash colored hair, and pale skin. His ninja attire consisted of a red sleeveless polo shirt tucked into brown pants, a white scarf, red ninja sandals, brown fingerless gloves, and a brown cross body strap that held up a large beige gourd filled with sand.

Yashamaru was wearing a simple blue training gi, a pair of grey karate pants, and blue Shinobi sandals. His hair was a sand color and his eyes were a blueish grey color.

Shio was a very short ninja with her dark brown hair up in a Chinese braid and dark mascara around her grey eyes. His ninja gear was a loose fitting white battle kimono with long sand colored pants and black shinobi sandals. On her back, a large scroll rested, attached by a blue cross body strap.

"Where are your keys? If you give them up,no one gets hurt." Yashamaru asked.

"We don't have any. We were beaten by some Konoha Genin." One of the Ame ninja spoke.

"Lies. I hate lies. My chakra, however, loves liars and is feeling very hungry right now!" Goken said in a threatening manner. The three Ame Genin unconsciously backed away from the trio across the clearing.

"I want to see the keys I desire on the ground in three seconds. Any other movement, and I'll kill you all!"

"Goken, I really don't think they have any keys. They don't even have any weapons." Yashamaru spoke up. The Rain ninja picked up a stray kunai to defend himself.

"Wrong move!" Goken shouted as iron sand exploded from his gourd and buried two of the ninja. Four tendrils of iron sand shot up, grabbing each limb and ripped the Ame Genin in half. The sand quickly returned to the gourd and after searching their corpses, they found nothing.

"I guess they didn't have anything on them. Too bad." He said unconcerned as he turned to the teenaged Sabaku.

"Oh and Yashamaru, next time you question my decisions, I'll make sure you end up like these three. Is that understood?"

"Y-Yes Goken. I understand."

"Good. Don't let it happen again."

Kushina was watching from the trees with a frown on his face.

"There's something familiar about that kid. Not quite sure what it is though." She thought silently before jumping away to oversee the rest of the forest. The Sun was beginning to set and that's when the most bloodshed would begin.

 **And that's a wrap! Thanks for reading guys and the next installment of Muddled Timeline will be our sooner than you think! Let me know what you think of the chapter or the story as a whole by leaving a review or a PM. Take it easy and be good.**


	14. Chapter 14: Preliminary Round

**_"Mike, the man has a gun to my head!"_**

 ** _"I bet he'll put it down if I put a hollow point in his eye now won't he!"_**

 ** _"Your partner's a cocky nigga!"_**

 ** _"Damn now was that necessary sir?"_**

 ** _"See?"_**

 ** _"How come he can't just be a cop, he got to be a nigga too?!"_**

 ** _"Imma go ahead and hot this fool."_**

 ** _"M-mike calm down."_**

 ** _"Calm down, I'm calm! I'm calm. What—HEY! WOAH! WHOO! I'm way too unstable for all this bullshit! Stop all the Goddamn movement! Everybody stop moving!"_**

 ** _"We can't let y'all go, but this shit will get worked out in court!"_**

 ** _"We got our rights!"_**

 ** _"Why don't you exercise your right to shut the fuck up?"_**

 ** _Hey everyone, Happy Early Halloween! New movie quotes game for you. I wanted to shorten it, but the scene was just too funny. Anyway, welcome back to Muddled Timeline! I'm glad to have you guys here reading the story. I hope you're enjoying it. NFL is back! It's week 7 this week and this are taking a turn for the weird. If you're in the USA, Canada, Europe, or just love American Football as much as I do, feel free to throw out your SuperBowl contenders and your favorites. I've got my money on the Los Angeles Rams, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Carolina Panthers._**

 **Arkemis Foresaken: Yes I know that Kagayaki means light, but since I made them up, there is no Kagayaki Clan. I just assigned a clan name to the Scorch Release Bloodline.**

 **DCSonic10: Right you are my friend.**

 **ShadowDeathSkull: Thank you my friend. And okay no more grasshopper.**

 **KingKakashi: Of course. Thanks for everything buddy.**

 **Bloody Rouge Dragon Deity King: Thanks bromigo. I plan on the story being at least 75 chapters, so strap in your seatbelts.**

 **Innovaquantum: Yes I do know it's from Inuyasha. I just decided to slot that little Easter Egg in since she doesn't have a surname anyway.**

 ** _If you have any heavy criticisms, I'd like them to be sent via Private Messaging. It's easier for me to address your concerns in this way so it's resolved much better. I understand that some don't like OCs, but this is how I want the story to set up for the next phases. If you want bigger Jutsu, you'll have to wait a little while longer but there will be more NaruHina development in the upcoming chapters._**

 ** _I'd like to give a big shoutout to KingKakashi and his ongoing story, Naruto vs Sasuke: The Aftermath. It's an amazing read and my personal favorite. He's going to be updating very soon so it'll be a treat for everyone._**

 ** _Now onward, to battle!_**

 ** _Chapter 14: Preliminary Round_**

"It's been a pretty crazy first day dontcha think?" Kushina laughed.

"You could say that again Kushina-Senpai." Her assistant chuckled.

"We've already got six squads in and two of them broke the old record, the first squad from Konoha coming in at just and a squad from Suna coming right after, at one hundred and thirty-one minutes. When I took the Chuunin Exams here in Konoha, it took me four days to get to the Tower." The Assistant spoke once again.

"Yeah, not to mention the little fact that three of them are squads from Konoha. Two of which are rookie teams." Another assistant smirked.

"It kind of makes you wonder what they're putting in the water at the academy."

"Whatever it is, I want some. Maybe I'll be strong enough for the Jounin rank promotion."

"Get in line." She looked on, considering actually drinking the academy water. "The rookie squad with the head Medic's daughter and the Kagayaki kid got in just one hundred and eighty three minutes. The squad from Suna made it here nine minutes after them at one hundred and ninety two minutes. Then about three hours after that we got in the squad with Danzo's daughter. After that another rookie squadron made it to the Tower right behind them. The other two are from Kumo."

Kushina shook her head. "And it's still just the first day."

"Makes you wonder how many squads will get through."

"I don't know. Initially I was thinking that only six or seven squads would make it through this phase, but by the time the Hokage arrives it might be really interesting."

XXXXXXXXXX

The tower in the middle of the forest was large and had plenty of rooms. Enough rooms that each participant was given a room of their very own. There was a cafeteria, courtyard, medical facilities, and even a pool. After opening the doors and having Naruto and Hinata impart the meaning of the Chuunin Exams to them, Team Six had been given a quick tour, a hot meal, and assigned rooms. They were welcome to use the facilities and spend the next four and a half days as they pleased. There were only two rules. Leaving the tower grounds and fighting with the other teams would result in immediate and rather painful disqualification. They saw Goken's unit and exchanged very frosty, very formal greetings. Kido and Goken had locked eyes briefly, leaving the Kagayaki scion unnerved, but nothing came of it. Team Six was outside doing some light training in the courtyard when team eight arrived. They seemed a bit beaten up, especially Kentaro. Kido and his team had actually tried to talk to them, with Mai offering to heal their minor wounds but Kentaro had gotten Team Fourteen moving with few words exchanged.

"Well some things never change. You'd think a guy would accept free medical attention. Geez." Kido muttered.

"Perhaps they are just tired Kido-kun." Mai offered.

"Perhaps the Forest of Death made Kentaro an even bigger ass somehow." Kido sighed. "Come on team, it's late, let's get some sleep."

Before they could move anywhere, a soft hand gripped Kido's shoulder. He turned around and saw Chitose and her team smiling. His mood instantly brightened up and the thought of rest flew out the window.

 _"Oh are you kidding me?! Not her again!"_ Mai thought to herself.

"Hey Chitose-Chan! What's up? You just missed the Uchiha prick's team by a hair. Kentaro looked like he was trampled in a stampede."

"Oh yeah we saw the little weasel at the door right before our tour. I wish you could've been there to see what happened to him! Hahaha!" Asuka laughed out loud.

"Really? What happened?" Tenzo asked, joining in on the conversation.

"The little Uchiha punk challenged me to a duel in the forest. I put the beat down on him but he's got his level two Sharingan and a new Jutsu because of it. The punk is stronger than I thought, but not as strong as you. Be careful anyway."

"No problem Chitose-Chan. I will. Nice job beating that jackass by the way."

"Kido! Shouldn't we get some rest? It is kinda late." Mai said.

"Oh uh right. I'll catch you later Chitose-Chan."

"See ya later Kido-kun!" She said waving to the younger ninja. After Team Six had left, Team Twenty-Five started talking amongst each other.

"Wow Chitose. You really got it bad for that rookie don't you?" Asuka questioned.

"Well...yeah I do." She said shyly.

"Well why? I'm not downing on the kid, but what do you see in him? He's already younger than you and I'm sure you can beat him in a straight up fight. So what's the scoop?" Kiyoko asked.

"He's kind and brave. He's very strong, strong enough to beat me actually. He's a sweet guy, he's funny, my father really likes him. Which says a lot. My father wanted to keep me away from boys. We had even bonded over only being raised by one parent. He doesn't deserve the substandard treatment that he gets from the people who know his mother is from Suna."

"Oh… okay then. That's reason enough to like him. Even if he's younger. I didn't know any of that stuff." Kiyoko replied with an astounded look on her face.

"I hope it works out for you then! You might even get laid!" Asuka said.

"Get laid? What's that?"

XXXXXXXXXX

On day two, Team Nine and a Kumo Team made it to the next round. Hotaka and his team walked into the cafeteria in the morning and saw Kido and his team eating breakfast.

"Crap! I guess you guys had us beat."

"Yep!" Kido said as he took a bite of some grilled fish.

"So when did you guys get to the Tower?" Hotaka asked, pulling a dry leaf out of his mint green hair and scratching his head.

"Oh we got here just before nightfall so we were the first team here." Mai said after sipping some of her tea.

"Ooh! Salt in the wound!" Tsunami said jokingly.

"Heh heh sorry about that." Tenzo said as he bit into a rice ball.

"No it is alright cousin. That was a joke." Akio said in a monotone voice.

"Ahem. Uh right. My bad."

Just as Hotaka's team sat down with their food in hand, the team from Kumo kicked in the cafeteria doors.

"I'M SOOO HUNGRY! OUTTA MY WAY!" A large tanned teen shouted as he bowled over anyone and anything in his path to the buffet laid out in the cafeteria. The teen wore a blue half cut monk's robe with one long and flowing sleeve, the other side of the robe showing off his broad torso. He wore standard blue ninja pants tucked into white knee length boot sandals, white gloves, and his white Kumo headband was secured around his bare bicep, letting his shaggy dirt colored hair flow freely.

"Jeez Kyozō, do you have to act like such a hog? Why can't you be like Denki?" Kyozō's female teammate asked as she shook her head in disapproval.

Denki was a pale skinned Kumo ninja with a blonde 1950's style Greaser hairdo. He wore a grey open coat with a tail in the back, a red tee shirt, grey pants, red ninja sandals, one red glove on his right hand, and a red headband on his forehead.

"Ah relax Mikahime. Let him indulge himself. We just got out of an evil forest so I think he should have a field day on this meal. I know I'm going to." Denki said nonchalantly.

Mikahime was a dark skinned Kumo ninja long silver hair in a princess style cut, with a white crop top shirt, tight black shorts, a white headband, and white ninja sandals.

"Well…If it's you, then I guess it's okay." Mikahime said reluctantly as they walked over to the line with their meal trays.

"Those Kumo guys that just walked in were pretty good so watch out. My dad says that there's a fighting portion in the Chuunin Exams and we might have to fight them." Hotaka said quietly.

"Yeah we saw them in the forest fighting some Suna Genin and they had skills. Especially that Denki guy." Tsunami whispered to Team Six.

"We'll watch out for him then. Thanks for the heads up." Kido said.

XXXXXXXXX

On days three and four, Akahiro's team from Kusa, Shibuki's team from Taki, and an Ame team walked into the Tower, in that order.

In the afternoon of the final day, to the shock of everyone from Konoha, Team Fifteen arrived.

"Daisuke, Yumiko, Hanare how did you guys make it here?" Tenzo asked, genuinely surprised to see them.

Yumiko quickly did what she could to fix her hair. "Tenzo-kun I told you we were a great fighting squad! Under my leadership we used our superior stealth and trap skills to take advantage of fortuitous events to successfully navigate the way here!"

"Huh?" Hotaka asked not even pretending to understand her.

Daisuke stepped forward and translated. "We spent most of our time hiding from everyone. Then we stumbled on the bodies of some Leaf ninja." He shook his head. "Whoever killed them didn't even bother to take their death keys. Afterwards, we got lucky enough to run into an exhausted Kumo team that got caught in a trap that we set up. Then we got here as fast and carefully as we could."

"So basically you succeeded by sheer luck without really trying?" Kido said with a straight face.

"Pretty much." Daisuke nodded.

"SHUT UP!" Yumiko shouted as she attempted to beat her male teammate to a pulp.

A few hours later, the Hokage arrived with the Jounin of the ninja who had arrived to the Tower and a photography crew. Kushina poofed into existence and the timer in her hands rang loudly.

"Alright! Congratulations on making past the second round of the Chuunin Selection Exams! I applaud all of you for your courage and perseverance! But unfortunately, I'll have to cut half of you from the Exams."

As soon as she said that, everyone was up in arms.

"What?! Are you kidding me? That's bullshit! We fought hard to get here!" Kyōzo bellowed.

"SHUT UP ALL OF YOU!" Kushina shouted as she flared the Kyuubi's chakra. The action was enough to quell the shouts of protest coming from the Genin.

"Now, as I was saying. I am afraid the fact is there are simply too many of you still standing. The finals will be held in front of a number of important guests and we must keep the event fast moving. Therefore before any of you will be permitted to advance to the finals we will have some preliminaries to cut your numbers down by half." Kushina relayed to the upset group of Chuunin Hopefuls.

"Before we get this show on the road, does anyone want to back out voluntarily? From here on out you are competing as individuals so you can make your choices without concern for your teammates. Would anyone like to withdraw?" Thirty silent glares were her only answer.

"Well, I'm not surprised. Okay the Preliminaries will consist of a series of individual battles. The winners will move on to the finals. We don't want to have a bloodbath here so if I see anyone in a hopeless situation I will stop the fight. But you shouldn't count on my intervention, to avoid death or serious injury you should yield the moment you feel yourself to be out matched." She cleared her throat and nodded to a nameless Jounin. There was a loud noise as a massive screen was brought out. "From this point on your fate will be in the hands of that screen. The names of two fighters will appear. Those two will then fight until there is a winner. As there are thirty of you we will have fifteen matches. Now then…let's begin!" All eyes looked up to the screen all the names flashed through until just two appeared.

 **YAMAMOTO TENZO vs AKI OF AMEGAKURE**

"Right off the bat huh?" Tenzo sighed.

"All right, everyone but the competitors please clear the arena floor." The competitors began heading for stairs that led to a walkway from which they could safely watch.

"Good luck Tenzo-kun!" Yumiko encouraged.

"Thanks Yumiko." Once she had left he looked over the brunette Ame kunoichi he was going to fight.

She wore a beige short sleeved jumpsuit with white bandages wrapped around her hands, arms, and legs. Her torso was partially covered by a grey unzipped vest and her Amegakure headband was secured around her neck. Her mouth was covered up by a grey bandana and she had short brown hair with black eyes.

"Okay. Let's have a good match."

"Hmph."

"The First preliminary match of the Chuunin Selection Exams between Yamamoto Tenzo and Aki of Amegakure will now begin! HAJIME!" Kushina shouted she signaled the start of the match.

Aki rushed Tenzo and started up a brief Taijutsu exchange. Tenzo was blocking most of the attacks, but the few that were slipping through his guard were strong and caused him to wince. He decided to counterattack, but she would just dodge every punch he threw at her. Finally, she kicked him in the chest and he rolled a good distance away from her. As he looked up, she was on him already. He quickly scurried away from a heel drop that would have cracked a few ribs and threw a smoke bomb down to create cover. Tenzo formulated a plan while Aki stood patiently outside the smokescreen. Once it dissolved, she rushed forward, only trip over a ninja wire connected to two kunai. Tenzo jumped up and kicked her hard in the face, sending her flying back to where she was standing. Tenzo was proud of his trap and was smiling.

"You brat! I'll wipe that smile off your face!" She shouted.

 **"Suiton: Mizurappa no Jutsu!" (Water Style: Wild Water Waves)**

 **"Doton: Doryuuheki no Jutsu!"**

A solid earth wall was erected to block the oncoming Water Jutsu. The waves were parted by the earth wall and were rendered harmless.

"I need to get her on this side of the wall without getting beaten up! But how?" The bespectacled ninja thought to himself. Aki jumped straight over the wall and threw a few shuriken at him.

 _"Well that oughta do it."_

Tenzo jumped back to create some separation between him and his opponent. He drew four kunai and threw them lazily at Aki, who stood in the same place as they all missed from being thrown poorly.

"Ha! Is that all you've got left? Since you're at the end of your rope, allow me to finish this!" She taunted.

 **"Suiton: Mizu—!"**

She finished the hand seals for the Jutsu and she was about to hit Tenzo point blank, but suddenly, Tenzo had her tangled up in Ninja Wire. Before she could break out of it, he slammed his fist into her stomach and then his foot lashed out and knocked her to the ground. He was quickly on her with a kunai drawn and placed at her throat.

"Winner by Technical Knockout, Yamamoto Tenzo!" Kushina shouted as she raised his hand.

"ALL RIGHT TENZO! SHOW 'EM WHO'S BOSS! THAT'S ONE OUTTA THREE FOR TEAM SIX!!" Kido shouted for the entire arena to hear.

The Third Hokage chuckled as he listened to Kido shouting praise. He then turned to look at Naruto and Hinata.

"He sure is energetic. And the Yamamoto boy is very smart. If he was lazy, he could've passed for a Nara."

"He's actually the cousin of the Aburame Clan, but is unable to use the Kikai insects. That's where he gets his brains from." Hinata said politely.

"Very interesting Hikari-san." Hiruzen drawled as he rubbed his beard.

The screen rapidly fired through the participants names until two were selected.

 **UCHIHA KENTARO vs REO of TAKIGAKURE**

"Good luck Reo! You can take that guy down!" Shibuki called out encouragingly. She nodded to the eleven year old and walked down to the arena floor.

"Tch, piece of cake. Minor village Genin are no match for the Uchiha Clan."

"Uchiha Clan huh? I guess I'll have to poke your eyes out then."

"It's okay. You're not even worth activating the Sharingan on." Kentaro taunted.

"That's it! Procter start the match so I can destroy this Uchiha asshole and move to the next round!" Reo shouted with righteous fury.

Kushina rolled her eyes at the irritated Kunoichi and cleared her throat. "Okay then. The second preliminary match of the Chuunin Selection Exams between Uchiha Kentaro and Reo of Takigakure will now commence. HAJIME!"

Reo threw a handful of shuriken at Kentaro, but he easily ducked under the projectiles. Kentaro draw a kunai and flicked his wrist, launching the weapon at Reo. She barely saw the kunai in time and dodged to the left. The blade still sliced her face and drew blood.

"You we're trying to kill me weren't you?!"

"If you're worth anything as a ninja, you should know that the way of the ninja is kill or be killed." The Uchiha simply stated.

Reo jumped forward to attack as Kentaro slipped in the Uchiha's main style of hand to hand combat, the Interceptor Fist. Kentaro began to make a mockery of her Taijutsu skills by dodging her attacks with little to no effort and retaliating with a punch or two to her face or stomach. Finally he grabbed her by the leg after she threw an exhausted and desperate kick and threw her into the arena wall. The Takigakure kunoichi was struggling to get to her feet when Kentaro spoke in a voice filled with supreme confidence.

"Proctor, I'm going to finish this."

 **"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"**

A large fireball was expelled from the Uchiha's mouth and rushed forward to finish the Taki kunoichi. She stood up on her feet and had just enough stamina to try and dodge the fiery ball of chakra. She attempted to throw herself out of the way, but her right arm got caught in the blast and was badly burned. She screamed out in pain and crashed to the stone floor.

"Reo!!" Shibuki shouted with tears in his eyes.

"Okay. Seeing as the other opponent can no longer continue, I declared the match—!"

 **"Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu!"**

A wide stream of fire was ejected towards the fallen Taki ninja and it nearly connected with her.

 **"Suiton: Suijinheki no Jutsu!"**

(Water Style: Water Wall Jutsu)

Reo's Sensei, Arashi, blasted a giant wave of water from his mouth to counter the Fire Jutsu that threatened to kill his student. After the Fire Jutsu was extinguished, Arashi burst through the wall of water and was on Kentaro in an instant. He nearly punched the Uchiha in the face but was stopped by three Jounin. Kushina snatched Kentaro by his collar and pulled him to eye level.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! I was trying to declare you as the winner! She was defeated!"

"I heard nothing, so I continued."

"So if I were an enemy ninja you'd be dead right now."

I wasn't focused on you because I wasn't fighting you. It's not my fault that she's weak. I told her she was no match for an Uchiha."

"Grr…I have half a mind to disqualify you right here!" She said throwing him to the concrete floor and jumping up to where the Hokage was seated to speak with him.

"Hokage-sama, the Uchiha brat should be disqualified! Not only did he not stop when I told him to, but he attempted to kill a foreign ninja ally! He shows no regard for human life and he should submit to a psychological examination from a Yamanaka!"

Hiruzen thought about what she said as he caressed his beard with closed eyes. Finally his eyes snapped open and his turned to look at the redheaded Jounin.

"No. I think the Uchiha boy should continue on to the finals. It may not sound like a great idea right now, but trust my judgement as Hokage."

"Okay. Understood Hokage-sama. The winner is Uchiha Kentaro, by technical knockout." She said pointedly.

As he made his way back to the landing where the other fighters were standing, he was on the receiving end of several disapproving glares. The worst was coming from Shibuki, who was practically mad dogging Kentaro.

"What are you looking at brat? You looking for an ass kicking? I'll crush you just like your weak teammate!"

"Grr...you'll be sorry you jerk!" I'm gonna beat you down!"

"I'm right here brat. Try me." Shibuki moved forward at Kentaro's taunt, but a strong grip and a look from his Sensei told him to stand down.

"I'll see you in the Finals jerk!"

Kentaro ignored him and went to go stand with his teammates.

"Kentaro, this is the Chuunin Exams! You can't treat the other competitors or the proctors any way you like! So reign it in!" Kentaro gave his clansman a look but said nothing. The randomizer board flashed through the available names again until it landed on the two next fighters.

ZURI of AMEGAKURE vs AKIMICHI MICHIRU

"Let's do this! I thought I was going to end up going last." Zuri shouted.

Michiru cracked her knuckles and jumped to the arena floor.

Zuri was a very slim ninja with a black cloak over a dark grey bodysuit, a pair of blue ninja sandals, a white Amegakure headband, and the majority of his head was wrapped in bandages, leaving only his right eye exposed.

"The Third preliminary match of the Chuunin Selection Exams between Akimichi Michiru and Zuri of Amegakure will now begin. Ready? Fight!" Yelled Kushina.

"You can do it!" Hiroki called. For once the boy wasn't acting unconcerned, possibly because his teammate was about to fight.

"Yeah, go Fatass!" yelled Yumiko.

"You'd better watch it! I'll win this match quickly and tear you two apart!" Roared Michiru as she glared at her friends.

"Well then, I guess I'll skip the playing and end it quickly for you, Fatty." Zuri said in a raspy voice.

Michiru's eyes narrowed as they focused on Zuri's right arm. 'You mummy wrapped freak, I already know how you attack thanks to what we saw in the forest. You release steam bursts from your device to speed up strikes, or to agitate the water in the opponent's body. You can't hit me if I'm moving, eat this!

 **"Ninpou: Baika no Jutsu!"**

(Ninja Art: Multi-size Jutsu)

Michiru's body quickly expanded and she quickly pulled in her arms, legs, and head.

"All I have to do is mow this guy down.

 **"Hijutsu: Nikudan Sensha!"** (Secret Jutsu: Meat Tank)

Michiru started spinning rapidly and shot towards Zuri with a yell of "I'm not fat, I'm cute and curvy!"

'The mummy's attacks can damage his opponent without him touching them, but that's only if the skin is exposed. How will he use his steam attack when his opponent's body is moving too fast to be hit and has a layer of chakra surrounding it? Plus, Michiru is a constant spinning ball of meat.' Hiroki thought as he watched his teammate smash around the arena.

Zuri leapt backwards to avoid Michiru, then leapt over the next charge to let the chubby Genin hit the wall behind him and become stuck in a crater formed by the collision.

 _'To get out of that, she'll have to spin in reverse, meaning she'll have to stop spinning and that's when I'll attack.'_ Zuri surmised. Michiru's movement stopped and Zuri dropped down to shove his arm into Michiru's gut.

"It's no use, I still have a thin layer of chakra around me!" Michiru's muffled voice called out.

"Nope, you're done for!" The mummy shouted before he released his attack. The steam attack cracked the stone around Michiru and the heavy girl screamed in pain before reverting to her normal size, unconscious.

"Seventy percent of the human body consists of water. In other words, it's easy to transmit my steam blasts through any wall of flesh. As long as I stopped your spinning, which was the biggest difficulty. Not only that, but the layer of chakra you had around you was water based, which only powered up my Jutsu." Zuri muttered as he stared at his devastated opponent.

"Winner Zuri of Amegakure!"

After the medics carried an unconscious Michiru off the battlefield, the scoreboard started up again.

FUJIWARA AKAHIRO vs ABURAME AKIO

"Let's get this show on the road!" Akahiro said he first bumped Fumiko. Fumiko kissed him on the cheek before he went down to the arena floor.

"For luck you big panda bear!" She said. Akahiro looked over at Hideo who put his hands up.

"I'm not kissing you."

With that, he made his way down to his battle spot.

"You can take this guy Akio! WILLPOWER!" Hotaka shouted.

"Yeah Show us your smarts!" Tsunami shouted.

"Your encouragement is noted and well received. Thank you. I shall do my best." Akio said.

"The fourth preliminary match of the Chuunin Selection Exams between Fujiwara Akahiro and Aburame Akio will now begin. Hajime!"

"Aburame huh? You've lost already bro."

"And why is that?" Akio questioned.

"You'll see. I'd rather not ruin the surprise."

 **"Katon: Yama Kaji no Jutsu!"**

(Fire Style: Wildfire Jutsu)

On the ground, the walls, and in a twenty foot circle around the two Genin, a blaze broke out. Akio quickly sent his insects after Akahiro, but they seemed to die off before they could get to their target.

'What is going on?! There's fire all around, but it's not touching my insects! Unless…! He was right the Aburame are weak against his techniques.'

As soon as he realized what was happening, Akio stopped sending his kikai bugs out at Akahiro. The latter smiled in triumph.

"So you finally figured it out then huh?"

"Yes I have. The fires produce chakra fumes that do not have an effect on humans, but are harmful to animals and lethal to insects. With no way to win, I will accept defeat." Akio replied before turning to Kushina.

"Procter-san. I am withdrawing from the battle. I am outmatched." Kushina nodded, ending the match. Akahiro made the half ram seal and the fires died out. The two ninja shook hands and Kushina declared Akahiro the winner. A few moments later the scoreboard was lit up again.

WANTANABE HIDEO vs SHIBUKI of TAKIGAKURE

"Hmph. Easy win. He's just a brat." Hideo said.

"M-maybe I should just forfeit!"

"Oh yeah, well what would Reo think of you?" Yami said to the eleven year old.

"Oh right, don't tell her I said that! I have to win then."

"The fifth preliminary match of the Chuunin Selection Exams between Wantanabe Hideo and Shibuki of Takigakure will now begin. Fight!"

 **"Suiton: Mizu Shuriken no Jutsu!"**

Seven water shuriken materialized out of nowhere and were headed straight for Hideo, who was thrown off by the skill of the young Taki Genin. Two of the water shurikens sliced him as he dodged the other five. The shorter Genin rushed him, throwing punches and kicks at his opponent. Some of the attacks landed, but once the Kusa ninja regained his balance, the fight shifted in Hideo's favor as he used his longer reach and more developed frame to counter the younger boy's strikes.

 **"Raiton: Jibashi!"**

Shibuki jumped away from the lightning attack and formed a few hand seals.

 **"Suiton: Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!"**

(Water Style: Water Clone Jutsu)

Soon Hideo was surrounded by six water clones that rise up from the water around him, all of which dove in on him. Slicing him with kunai, punching, and kicking him until he knocked them away with a Lightning Jutsu. While he was recovering from the beating, Shibuki made his move.

 **"Suiton: Mizurappa no Jutsu!"**

The projectile Jutsu hit him in dead center of his chest and knocked him out cold.

"Winner, Shibuki of Takigakure!"

"Yay! What'd you think of that Sensei?"

"Damn Shibuki! You had that lame ass bitch beat with yo' sick ass water clones! That's what I'm talkin' about! Yo' Pops would be proud of yo' little ass!"

"Thanks Sensei! Do you really mean that?"

"Fo' sure young one! Your Pops was my Sensei growin' up! He's one of the strongest ninjas in Taki!"

"Wow! No way! My dad is so cool!"

"Heh, damn right!"

"Oh Yami, you're up next to fight. Good luck!"

"Huh? I am? Well then, watch me fly. Let's see who I'm fighting."

SHIMURA CHITOSE vs YAMI of TAKIGAKURE

"All right! Show her what's up Chitose!" Kido shouted to the Black Ops Kunoichi.

"Of course Kido-kun. I'll show her why Konoha is not to be trifled with."

"Yeah you show her why you're the Alpha Female!" Asuka shouted.

"Good luck out there!" Kiyoko cheered.

"Hmph! I'm just going to assume you're all talk until you show me something." Yami boasted.

"The sixth preliminary match of the Chuunin Selection Exams between Shimura Chitose and Yami of Takigakure will now begin. Hajime!"

Chitose rushed forward and threw a few quick strikes to gauge her defenses. Surprisingly, Yami dodged every strike with ease before she grabbed Chitose's arm and effortlessly threw the older girl over her shoulder.

"You see now? You're too slow. I'm a Taijutsu prodigy! You're just a Genin, while I boast near Jounin level skills!" Yami laughed.

As Yami laughed, Chitose shunshin'd quickly over to her and caught her with an earth shattering kick to the chest, sending her straight into the wall. After a few seconds, Yami pulled herself to her feet and wiped the blood off of her mouth as she glared at her opponent.

"A cheap shot bitch! You got lucky!"

"Next time don't take your eyes off me!"

"I wasn't going to use this, but you've really pissed me off!" Yami growled as she ate a Ninja Food Pill. She immediately had chakra seeping out of her pores.

"Get ready for pain!"

She dashed forward and the two kunoichis collided fist to fist. They fought with speed and aggression as they leapt around the arena. They broke apart for a moment to reassess the battle and Yami growled subtlety.

"Well your much better than I thought. But not good enough to beat me. I'm going to bring you down, the Takigakure way."

Yami quickly closed the distance between the two fighters and threw a snap kick at Chitose's chin, launching her in a backwards arc. She channeled chakra into her feet and appeared under the ROOT operative and kicked her in the back, sending her into the air. The Taki Kunoichi jumped into the air above Chitose and as she reached her peak height, Yami hit the older girl in the stomach with a chakra charged punch, sending her flying downward. Yami landed and looked at Chitose's prone form.

"Never had a chance."

Kushina walked over to Chitose's body and was about to declare Yami the winner, until the body shimmered away, surprising everyone.

 **"Fuuton: Shinkūgyoku!"**

Yami didn't even have time to turn around before a ball of wind smashed into her back and slammed her into the wall, leaving her unconscious.

"Winner, Chitose Shimura!"

"Well Shibuki, looks like you're the only one on the team who's movin' on up. I'll be training you then."

Chitose smiled and winked at Kido as she received high fives from her teammates and a nod of approval from her Sensei.

As they were celebrating Chitose's win, the scoreboard blared to life once again.

TOKUICHI HOTAKA vs HARA FUMIKO

All right! I'm up guys! I'll bring home to the dub. Just watch!" He said confidently as he met his opponent on the arena floor.

Hotaka! Weapons don't work against her!"

"Aww man! Why'd you have to ruin the surprise Kido?" Fumiko shouted. Kido just shrugged his shoulders and gave Hotaka a thumbs up. She turned to speak with her opponent.

"Let's have a good fight Tokuichi-san."

"Agreed Hara-san!"

The seventh preliminary match of the Chuunin Selection Exams between Hotaka Tokuichi and Fumiko Hara will now begin. HAJIME!"

 **"Suiton: Kowareta Teibō no Jutsu!"**

(Water Style: Broken Levee Jutsu)

The entire arena suddenly filled with water up to the soles of the combatant's sandals.

 **"Suiton: Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!"**

(Water Style: Water Clone Jutsu)

Six water clones rose up out of the water and quickly surrounded Fumiko. They all drew kunai and threw them at Fumiko all at once. The air current around Fumiko redirected the kunai at each Water Clone, dispelling then all.

"Well that didn't work."

Kido developed a huge facial tic when he heard what Hotaka said.

"I TOLD YOU THROWING WEAPONS AT DOESN'T WORK, EVEN IF THEY'RE WATER!" The Kagayaki boy shouted while shaking his fist.

"Eh heh heh… right." Hotaka chuckled weakly.

"If that's all you've got for me today, I'm gonna make a move Hotaka-san."

 **"Fuuton: Reppu-Ookami!"**

Three wind wolves materialized in front of Fumiko and charged at Hotaka. He was dodging the wind predators fairly well but still had a few cuts on his arms and a ripped sleeve. He was running around the field while Fumiko held the ram seal to control their movements. He maneuvered himself in such a way that the wolves were lined up directly in front of their caster. Then Hotaka made his move.

 **"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"**

An average sized fireball burst from Hotaka's mouth and hit all three wolves, absorbing them and making his weaker fireball into a much larger fireball that was headed straight for Fumiko, who jumped out of the way.

 **"Suiton: Suireihā!"**

The blast of water hit Fumiko in the chest and knocked her out, ending the match.

"Winner, Hotaka Tokuichi!"

"Dude congrats on the win!"

"Thanks my man!"

"I'm still going to be a Chuunin first! And I'm going to win the bet!" Kido declared.

"In your dreams!"

The board of fate flashed rapidly once more and showed two more names.

USAGI TSUNAMI vs YUKARI YUMIKO

The two contestants both jumped over the railing and landed in the middle of the arena.

"May the best Kunoichi win!" Tsunami smiled.

"Of course!" They both nodded to Kushina to begin the match.

"At least they didn't trash talk each other." Kushina thought.

"The eighth preliminary match of the Chuunin Selection Exams between Tsunami Usagi and Yumiko Yukari will now begin. HAJIME!"

The two Kunoichi charged straight ahead and threw a few quick punches and kicks at each other just to get warmed up. Tsunami took out a kunai and threw it at Yumiko, who dodged the weapon and threw down a flash bomb. The blinding light provided her excellent cover for her next move. She formed a few basic hand seals and continued her plan.

 **"Bunshin no Jutsu!"**

Once the light faded away, there were ten copies of Yumiko surrounding Tsunami, all of them had two kunai at the ready. They each threw one of their kunai at her. Not knowing which was the real one, and not wanting to take a guess and get hit, Tsunami dropped down and avoided all the kunai. As she stood back up, she was kicked hard in the chest and another flash bomb went off, obscuring her vision of the real Yumiko. When the light cleared away, she was surrounded again. This time, instead of throwing kunai at Tsunami, she and her clones rushed the orange haired girl and threw punches and kicks. Tsunami had no choice but to try and dodge them all. The real Yumiko quickly slid in and landed a crushing haymaker on Tsunami. Before the dazed ninja could counterattack, yet another flash bomb went off. The whole process continued four more times and after she landed another heavy handed punch, Yumiko sent Tsunami flying. Tsunami shakily rose to her feet and formed the ram seal as Yumiko readied another flash bomb. Right before she slammed the flash bomb on the ground, she stopped moving and was paralyzed.

"What the hell?!"

 **"Fuinjutsu: Oshū Keisei!"**

(Sealing Jutsu: Seizing Formation)

"How did you…?"

"Well if you could look around you, you'd see four sealing tags I placed down every time you set off your flash grenades. I caught on to your plan to tire me out and keep me off guard with those clones. So I let myself be hit by your attacks to make it look like you held the advantage. Sorry Yumiko, but it's over." Tsunami explained as she held a kunai to her neck. She looked at Kushina who nodded and promptly ended the match.

"Winner: Tsunami Usagi!"

She made the half ram seal and released the paralysis seals on Yumiko and they both shook hands as they walked up to the balcony to watch more fights. The board rang out two more randomized names.

DENKI of KUMO vs MAKO of AME

"Alright guys. I'll be lightning quick. This shouldn't take too long."

"Yeah! Bro Power!!" Kyozō shouted as Mikahime shook her head in irritation and addressed Denki.

"Come back quickly. I don't want to be alone with this idiot for too long."

He nodded and looked at his opponent. She was silent but had a determined look on her face.

"The ninth preliminary match of the Chuunin Selection Exams between Denki of Kumo and Mako of Ame will now begin. HAJIME!"

The Ame ninja formed a few hand seals and executed her Jutsu.

 **"Suiton: Kowareta Teibō no Jutsu!"**

Soon there was water u to the soles of their shoes in a twenty foot radius.

 **"Suiton: Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!"**

Three water clones rise up from the water and surrounded Denki. He smiled widely. He had already won.

"Neat trick. Too bad it's not going to do you any good."

"Raiton: Raikou Hitofuki no Jutsu!" (Lightning Style: Lightning Blast Jutsu)

Denki jumped away and fired off a blitz of lightning on the wet floor. The lightning traveled all across the water as he watched the three water clones dissolve and Mako fall to the floor, chock full of lightning. After a bit, she passed out and Denki was declared the winner.

"Winner, Denki of Kumo!"

The board spoke once again and chose the next combatants.

NARA HANARE vs SABAKU YASHAMARU

"Ugh I'd rather be feeding the deer. I guess I'll have to fight."

"Hi, it's nice to meet you." Yashamaru said as he waved.

"The tenth preliminary match of the Chuunin Selection Exams between Hanare Nara and Yashamaru Sabaku will now begin. HAJIME!"

"Well I see you have a war fan on your back. That would easily dispel my Jutsu. Plus you look boring anyway. So you know what? I quit. Procter I resign and this guy can move on. I'm too tired anyway."

Everyone in the arena sweatdropped and started at Hanare in confusion. She walked back up to the top and promptly fell asleep.

"Ookay then. The winner is Yashamaru Sabaku. Turn on the randomized again." Kushina said into her radio.

"Huh? So soon? We just turned it on a minute ago!" The ninja inside the booth above said through the radio.

"The Nara girl quit right off the bat."

"I thought Nara women were supposed to be proactive and hot headed?"

"I guess in some ways, she's just like a Nara boy. Her father is a Nara after all. I guess he's been rubbing off on her."

ISHIYAMA HIROKI vs MIKAHIME of KUMO

Well then it's my time to shine!" Hiroki jumped up and shouted.

"Don't disappoint me Hiroki. With the numerous hours of training I've put into you, you should defeat this Kunoichi.

"Hehe… R-right Sensei…" Hiroki chuckled nervously as he thought to himself.

 _"Even though I didn't learn a thing from you besides improved Taijutsu."_

"The eleventh preliminary match of the Chuunin Selection Exams between Hiroki Ishiyama and Mikahime of Kumo will now begin. HAJIME!"

 **"Raiton: Karada Tachi Kiru no Jutsu!"**

(Lightning Style: Body Disconnect Jutsu)

The Kumo Kunoichi had blue lightning chakra humming around her hands as she charged forward. Hiroki began to dodge her palm strikes and was doing everything he could not to be hit by her fast moving hands.

"What's the matter? Are you going to keep on running away?" Mikahime taunted as she lashed out with a palm strike. Hiroki backflipped away, only to change directions by planting his back foot and he dove down on a surprised Mikahime with an axe kick that hit her square in the head. As he landed, he kicked her right in the chest, sending her crashing into the wall. She spat out some blood and rose to her feet.

"Hmph. It's gonna take more than some fancy Taijutsu to beat me."

"Then I guess I'll have to dial up the volume."

They both ran at each other and engaged in a heavy Taijutsu battle. They each pulled out kunai and clashed together in a ring of steel. As soon as they did, Mikahime smiled.

"It's over."

"Huh?" Hiroki said as suddenly lost his grip on the kunai he was holding. Before he knew what was going on, she struck his other arm at the shoulder, and kicked him in the chest, making him roll away without the use of his arms.

"When our kunai touched, I still had my Jutsu active. Metal conducts electricity, meaning that lightning Jutsu had connected. Now I'll finish you." She said as Hiroki stood to his feet with his arms hanging by his sides.

 _"Oh ho! So that's your strategy? Let's see if it works!"_ Sarutobi thought to himself.

She ran full speed at the defenseless Genin and jumped into the air. She came down with the intent to kick him into next week.

He suddenly looked her dead in the eyes and formed quick hand seals.

 **"Fuuton: Tatsumaki Kansei!"**

(Wind Style: Tornado Trap)

A tornado about ten feet tall rose up right in front of her and as soon as she made contact with the wind vortex, she was blasted away with numerous bleeding cuts and she slammed into the arena wall and crumpled to the stone floor. She barely managed to raise her head to see Hiroki though hazy eyes.

"H-how…?"

"Wind chakra beats Lightning chakra and my system is full of it. All I had to do was focus on my chakra and push some out through my chakra coils and the rest was history." Hiroki replied as she passed out.

"Winner: Hiroki Ishiyama!" Kushina said as the medics showed up to take the injured Kunoichi away on a stretcher.

"Nice win bro!"

"Thanks Kido. I'm sure you'll tear it up out there too." Hiroki said as he high fived the Shakuton user.

"Damn that was a sweet Fuuton Jutsu! Where'd you learn it?" Kido asked.

"My dad is one of the few Fuuton specialists in the village. He taught me the Jutsu. I can give you the scroll later."

"No problem bro. Just let me know when you're free to train."

"Yeah definitely! I'll—" Hiroki started, but stopped mid sentence when he noticed Kentaro glaring at him from behind Kido.

"I'll uh… catch you later man." Hiroki said as he went over to his team.

"Yeah no problem."

"What are you doing! Offering to teach him a new Jutsu. Are you out of your mind?! This is still a competition you fool!" Kentaro belted out.

"I was just trying to be helpful and share some info." Hiroki said trying to defend himself.

"Do you want to become a Chuunin or not?"

"Yes." He sighed in resignation.

"Then keep away from the other teams until the Exams are over." Kentaro ordered as the neon board had randomly selected two more of the remaining names.

KUROSAWA MAI vs INUZUKA ASUKA

"All right no offense, but you're going down Little Miss Mai. I'll show you why the Inuzuka technique is feared!"

"I'll be the one advancing to the finals. I would've liked to have fought your teammate Chitose, but there's always a later date."

"Haha! She'd wipe the floor with you! She already defeated your boneheaded Uchiha classmate, you're nothing to her. And frankly, you're not much of a threat to me either!"

"I guess we'll see right now you Inuzuka mutt!"

"The twelfth preliminary match of the Chuunin Selection Exams between Mai Kurosawa and Asuka Inuzuka will now begin. HAJIME!"

"Come here Niji! We'll show this girl some real skills! Not this baby Academy crap she's been fed!"

"Grr Bark Bark!" Niji said asking his owner a question.

"No not yet Niji. I'm saving that for later. Besides, I don't think we need to use it on her."

"Grrr, Arf!"

 **"Gijū Ninpou: Shikyaku no Jutsu!"**

(Ninja Art of Beast Mimicry: All-Fours Jutsu)

"That's the All Fours Jutsu. It's a favorite of the Inuzuka clan, enabling its members to move in the same way as their ninken partners. Upon activating this technique, Inuzuka gain a more feral appearance: their canine teeth lengthen, their finger and toenails become claw-like, and their pupils turn to slits. Inuzuka will often make using the Four Legs Technique their first priority in a fight, which in turn tends to make it a prerequisite for many of their other Jutsu."

"Wow that sounds really strong."

"It is. I've experienced it firsthand in my first Chuunin Exams. But every Jutsu has a weakness. You just have to find it."

"Now eat this you little brat!" Asuka shouted as chakra seeped from her pores as she got down on all fours. She dashed forward quicker than Mai had anticipated and slammed her shoulder into Mai's chest. The younger Genin was sent flying several yards away and landed on her back.

"What the hell did she do to move that fast?! I have to be more ready for her fast attacks like that." Mai thought as she rose up from the floor and got into a fighting stance.

"Well it looks like you're tougher than I thought princess! Now it's time to turn it up!" Asuka shouted as she sprinted on all fours at Mai and tried to slash her. Mai barely had time to duck under the swipe and counter the wild swing.

Mai swept her legs out from under her and jumped at her, but was redirected when Asuka used her legs to vault the diving girl away from her.

"Take this!" Asuka shouted.

 **"Gijū Ninpou: Tsuuga!"**

(Ninja Art of Beast Mimicry: Piercing Fang)

Asuka began to rotate quickly and jumped in the air. As she made her descent, she turned into a rapidly spinning, silver, vertical tornado.

The Inuzuka Kunoichi bounces around the arena trying to hit Mai, but the medical ninja continued to evade her linear attack. It wasn't long before Mai caught on to the pattern of her attacks and countered as soon as she missed.

 **"Suiton: Suireiha!"**

The water Jutsu hit Asuka in the side and knocked her out of her Tsuuga. She skidded a good distance away and regained her footing.

"Grrr… I guess it's time to stop messing around! Niji come here!"

"You're going to have a dog fight with you?"

"Niji's not just any dog, and soon you'll see why!" Asuka said as she flipped the dog a ninja food pill. Once it crunched down the pill, it's grey fur began turning wild and it became multicolored like a rainbow while the underside stayed white. Asuka crunched a ninja food pill as well and got all fours once again as her ninkin jumped on her back.

 **"Gijū Ninpou: Juujin Bunshin!"**

(Ninja Art Of Beast Mimicry: Man Beast Clone)

Niji Proofed away and became an exact duplicate of Asuka and had Mai shocked. That moment of surprise was all the duo needed to gain an edge against Mai. They both charged the younger Genin and attacked in tandem, punching and slashing Mai, keeping her on the defensive. Mai took a claw to the shoulder purposely and grabbed Niji and threw her into Asuka.

 **"Suiton: Mizurappa!"**

Mai fired off her water Jutsu too late as Asuka rebounded and punched her in the face. Instead of the water attack hitting the duo, it only grazed Niji. The Inuzuka Kunoichi and her ninkin regrouped and proceeded to attack again, this time the attack was more deadly.

 **"Gijū Ninpou: Gatsuuga!"**

Ninja Art of Beast Mimicry: Double Piercing Fang)

The duo suddenly both turned into silver twisters and charged Mai. She jumped high into the air to avoid the initial attack, but that was a mistake as she was hit by Asuka when she rebounded off the ground. Mai came falling back down and had to quickly get up to avoid another strike. She tried to form some hand seals, but wasn't fast enough.

"How do ya like that?!" Asuka shouted as she clawed Mai's arm, tearing her shirt sleeve and drawing blood. The ninja had no time to check her wound as Niji came from behind and smacked her towards Asuka. Asuka released her Jutsu and caught Mai before slamming the teen hard into the ground and kicking her away.

"Ha! Procter there's no way she's getting up from that slam!"

"Ugh I'm done for. She's too fast. And she can track me wherever I go…I can't win this." Mai thought in defeat.

"Mai get up! Come on you can take her!" Kido shouted.

Slowly, Mai started to stand up. When she got to her feet, there was a fierce fire in her eyes.

"I'm not done yet you dog bitch!"

"Gragh! Now you're toast! What are you gonna do when there's two of us!" Asuka growled out as Niji barked in agreement. Mai drew two Kumai and threw them at Asuka and Niji's heads. They ducked under the weapons. The duo started to laugh at the telegraphed attack and that's all Mai needed.

 **"Ninpou: Kanashibari no Jutsu!"**

(Ninja Art: Paralysis Jutsu)

"What the hell?! I can't move!" Asuka shouted as Mai attacked. She dove at the defenseless Niji and hit the dog hard enough to knock him out, dispelling the jutsu. She made a dash for Asuka, who was struggling to break free of the paralysis jutsu. She jumped in the air and punched Asuka in the mouth hard just as she broke free of the jutsu. Asuka got to her feet and wiped the blood off her mouth.

"Okay fine! You've got spirit, I'll give you that, but you're outta gas. I know it."

"I can… do this all day!" Mai retorted defiantly.

 _"I only have a little bit of chakra left. I'll have to make it count! This is the finale!"_

Asuka charged at Mai and jumped in the air once again and attacked.

 **"Gijū Ninpou: Tsuuga!"**

Mai threw a kunai that bounced off Asuka's spinning body and was hit directly by the attack, but used a substitution Jutsu with the kunai and appeared above Asuka.

 **"Suiton: Suireiha!"**

The water Jutsu met its mark full force as Asuka was caught unaware without any defense. She was knocked out of her Jutsu and crashed to the floor.

 **"Chakra Enjintou!"**

Once she stood up, turned around to see Mai right in her face with her hands glowing green and her fist cocked back. She punched Asuka in the stomach, knocking the air out of her lungs, then punched her in each of her legs, and finished with a rising kick to her chin. The Inuzuka clan member flew away and hit the wall, going unconscious in the process.

"Winner: Mai Kurosawa!"

"Mai that was awesome! You did it! That was so awesome!" Kido told her as he hugged her with excitement and pride ringing in his voice.

"You really think so Kido-kun?" She said blushing.

"I know so! You're the best Kunoichi in the Chuunin Exams!"

"Thank you Kido-kun! You know, when this is over, I want to tell you something really important.

"Really? What is it?"

"I'll have to tell you after your match. I don't want to distract you."

"Okay then. That shouldn't take too long. There's only a few more people left." Kido said as Tenzo walked up to the two.

"Congratulations Mai. That was great!"

"Thanks Tenzo!"

"All right! Team Six to the Finals!" Kido shouted. Chitose had heard what Mai said as she had been standing the background of their conversation unnoticed. She smiled to herself as the board shuffled six remaining fighters.

KYOZŌ of KUMO vs HIYOSHI KIYOKO

"Jeez I was waitin' forever for my turn!" Kyozō bellowed.

"I'm going to beat you like a big ol' drum!" Kiyoko said politely.

"Bring it bite size!" Kyozō growled.

"The thirteenth preliminary match of the Chuunin Selection Exams between Kyozō of Kumo and Kiyoko Hiyoshi will now begin. HAJIME!"

Kiyoko drew ten kunai and threw them at the large Kumo ninja. He easily avoided them and charged her. She threw more shuriken to halt his progression, but he just blocked them with kunai, or dodged them.

"Haha those stupid weapons won't do anything to me! Give it up!"

"Oh I'm not trying to hit you." She said as she suddenly pulled her hand back and Kyozō was ensnared by ninja wire.

She pulled out two scrolls and leapt into the air.

 **"Ninpou: Sousou Ryuu!"**

(Ninja Art: Twin Rising Dragons)

The two scrolls swirled around her as they each let loose a plethora of weapons, all of them different shapes and sizes. Kyozō broke out of the wires and jumped away while firming hand seals.

 **"Raiton: Raikou Kusari!"**

(Lightning Style: Chain Lightning)

The large lightning bolt bounced off of the steel projectiles and made its way all the way up to Kiyoko and electrocuted her into unconsciousness, ending the fight quickly.

"Winner: Kyozō of Kumo!"

GOKEN of SUNA vs KENJI DAISUKE

Daisuke calmly walked down the stairs as Goken used a sand shunshin to get down to the arena.

"Let's have a good match." Daisuke said. Goken said nothing.

"The fourteenth preliminary match of the Chuunin Selection Exams between Goken of Suna and Daisuke Kenji will now begin. HAJIME!"

The Konoha Genin jumped back and readied himself for a fight, but Goken just stood in the same spot, unmoving and bored as he followed Daisuke's movements with his eyes.

"Why aren't you moving?"

"I don't need to nor feel like moving. You're weak. I can tell just by looking at you that you're aren't even important enough to fight. Surrender so I don't have to waste my time."

Goken's words struck a chord within Daisuke and for the first time, he actually got angry.

"If you aren't going to fight me, then I'll fight you!" Daisuke said as he shakily rose to his feet and threw a few shurikens at Goken's back. He was incredibly surprised when a wall of sand rose up to block the projectiles.

"What are you doing?" Goken asked in the same flat tone, not even turning his head at the attack.

"Don't walk away from me." Daisuke said fiercely.

Goken did turn his head this time to observe him.

"I already told you that you aren't worth fighting." Goken said in a tone that suggested he was irritated with having to repeat himself.

"I don't need your pity! I am a ninja and if you won't fight then I will." He said as he rushed to attack the sand ninja.

He felt the massive killing intent settle upon his body, but he forced herself to continue to move, despite the terrifying feeling. Daisuke rushed toward him to punch the Suna Ninja, only to see the wall of sand rise up and halt his punch.

"I must say that I am mildly impressed. The fact that you were able to continue your attack in spite of my killing intent is slightly impressive, considering how weak you are. However, my patience wears thin. Discontinue your foolish actions before I rethink my earlier opinion and kill you." Goken said with a bored tone, as he flicked his wrist and a wave of sand blew him back to the opposite side of the arena floor. He winced as he got up and began strategizing.

 _"That sand shields him from my attacks. That means that I'll have to hit him with a genjutsu, but which one?"_ He thought. He suddenly came to a decision, but knew that it was truly a one shot move.

 _"Here goes nothing."_ He thought as she began a long stream of hand signs.

"What is that Jutsu?" Akio asked curiously.

"It is a powerful genjutsu that forces an opponent to relive their worst memories. It is fairly taxing for the caster if they don't have a lot of chakra." Himari explained.

"But will it be enough?" Yumiko asked.

No one wanted to answer her.

Goken watched the brown haired boy with annoyance. He felt that he had been very generous in allowing him to live. Truth be told, he only wanted to fight and kill a few of the Genin. The others were nothing but ants to him.

 **"Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu!"**

(Demonic Illusion: Hellviewing Jutsu)

Everyone in the stadium watched as Goken stood perfectly still and seemed to be unaffected. That is until he grabbed his head and began to shake visibly.

"F-Father… mother, where are you? What is this evil…? Don't let them take me…" He stuttered as he began to yell in pain.

 _"What's going on? He shouldn't be in pain."_ Daisuke thought with a small pant. This was his strongest attack and it took a lot out of his chakra reserves.

"This is not good!" Yashamaru, Shio, and Goken's sensei thought.

Goken continued to yell in pain as he grabbed his head and the sand floating around him dropped to the ground.

"This is my chance!" The Konoha Genin thought as he rushed toward the ninja. Suddenly Goken stopped yelling in pain and turned his gaze to Daisuke. He froze in place as he felt a killing intent so large that it put his previous one to shame. He could do nothing except stare into the gaze of the insane shinobi, whose eyes held murder. Goken had seemingly broken out of the jutsu and had one thing on his mind.

"You…will...DIE!" He yelled as his sand rose up into a huge wave and swept Daisuke to the opposite side of the stadium with crushing force. However, it wasn't over as the sand wrapped around his legs and lifted him into the air.

The sand began to whip him around the stadium and smash him into the walls like a rag doll.

"Stop the match!" Kido yelled in concern. He could tell by the look on Goken's face that he was looking for blood and the only reason Daisuke wasn't dead yet was because he wanted to torture him and make sure he suffered first before killing him.

Goken threw his opponent once again into the wall, cracking it upon impact, and looked at the semi conscious ninja lying broken on the ground. He had forced him to relive the most traumatizing experience of his life and he would pay!

"DIE!!!" He screamed as he sent a massive wave of sand to crush the young ninja.

Daisuke couldn't move. He was in extreme pain and was sure that a good number of his bones were broken. He opened one eye as the other was swollen shut and watched as the huge wave of sand rushed toward his probe form.

 _"After all that work, this is how I die? I couldn't even make my family proud. I really am a disgrace."_ He thought in resignation as the wave crashed down toward him.

The next thing that he was aware of was feeling like he was soaring through the air. He felt someone warm wrapped around him and opened his good eye to see what had happened. He was not dead; he was in the arms of Hanare. She stared down at him with concern evident in her big green eyes.

"Are you ok Daisuke?" She asked softly.

"I'm really hurting. Thank you Hanare." He said as the injuries began to catch up with him.

Hanare looked down at him in concern, but was ripped from her thoughts when he saw that Goken was not finished. Hanare had to dodge multiple sand attacks from the crazed ninja who was ignoring the Kushina's announcement that he was the winner of the match.

"That's it!!" Kushina shouted as gold chains fired from her back and pinned Goken to the floor, halting his sand onslaught.

The sand Jounin and Yashamaru shouted for Goken to calm down. He looked at them, but calmed down as the sand returned to his gourd. Kushina slowly released him from the golden chains and he was escorted away by Yashamaru and his sensei.

 _"That kid. His chakra was just like the Ichibi, but not nearly as potent. He must only have access to its chakra."_

The board flashed once again for the last time with the final two names.

KAGAYAKI KIDO vs SHIO of SUNA

"Good luck Kido-kun!" Mai said.

"You got this in the bag!" Tenzo said.

"Yeah good luck Kido. You've got this!" Hotaka shouted.

"Thanks guys! I'll kick some ass for sure!" Kido said as he jumped down to the arena floor and saw his opponent Rika walk down and take her position.

"Are you two ready?" Kushina asked. They both nodded and she cleared her throat.

"The fifteenth and final preliminary match of the Chuunin Selection Exams between Kido Kagayaki and Shio of Suna will now begin. HAJIME!"

"You're going to pay for what your teammate did to my friend freak." Kido said as he prepared himself.

"Big words for such a little brat." Shio taunted.

Kido jumped back as he warily gazed at Shio. He didn't know exactly what he could do yet, but that big bundle on his back gave him a pretty good idea. His mother was adamant that he study Suna ninja techniques and learn about his heritage even though Konoha was their new home. And now it had paid off.

Shio had taken the bundle off his back and carefully and set it down off to the side as he ran directly at Kido, backflipped away and then kicked the Suna Genin in the face, knocking him away, making a sickening crunch.

 _"I knew it."_ Kido thought triumphantly.

Everyone who heard it winced. Kido, however, was not confused. When he kicked Shio, he didn't feel as if he hit flesh, skin or bone, but a much harder material, like wood. It only cemented his earlier assumption.

The crowd was at a loss for words when the Suna Genin stood up, his head twisted sideways. And to further everyone's confusion, Shio's face started to peel and fall off, revealing a wooden surface. Kido threw a kunai in front of the fallen bundle.

"I know you're in there. So come out now before I attack you directly."

The wrappings of the bundle came undone and Shio stood up with his fingers out.

"Fine you got me. How did you know?"

"My family is originally from Suna, or rather the area around it."

"Eh whatever. It's not like that'll matter in a few minutes. Now taste the might of my puppet, Suzume(Sparrow)!"

Sparrow had four arms, two of which had talons, a bird's beak on its face, two slim legs and the body was hidden inside of a ragged brown cloak. It was about the size of an average adult. Kido decided to poke fun at the puppet user.

"Aren't you too old to be playing with dolls?" He said with a smile.

"DOLLS?! This is NOT a doll! It's a ninja tool just like your sword, kunai, and shuriken. And now I'll show you just how much of a ninja tool Suzume is! Eat this!"

Kido jumped out of the way of the diving puppet and ran straight for the puppeteer. However, this strategy proved more difficult to achieve as Suzume spun and fired a barrage of senbons at Kido, forcing him to abandon his charge and jump away.

Once again the puppet charged him and he avoided the wood contraption easily. But it stopped on a dime and slashed at him.

 **"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"**

Kido blew a large fireball at the puppet and everyone watched as it was engulfed in flames. Kido smiled in triumph until the fires died down and showed the puppet still hovering in the air.

"What?! No way!"

"Like it? My puppet is fireproof. So you're going to have to destroy it, which isn't possible for a Genin."

"I'm not your average Genin! Don't underestimate me!" Kido shouted.

 **"Fuuton: Reppushou!"**

The Wind Jutsu redirected another hailstorm of kunai from Suzume back at the puppeteer, causing him to yelp and use his puppet to shield himself. Kido took advantage of his distracted state to launch a devastating blow to Suzume.

 **"Kaze no Yaiba!"**

Kido sliced the puppet into pieces with his blades of wind and the ninja tool fell to the ground, useless.

"Suzume!"

"Eat this! Ki-Cha!" Kido shouted as he kicked Shio in the face with a spinning heel kick. He then kicked Shio in the back with a front bicycle kick, sending him crashing several yards away. Kido jumped into the air, his hand coated with Shakuton chakra.

 **"Shakuton: Kogasu-Ken!"**

(Scorch Style: Blaze Fist)

Shio could feel the power behind the Shakuton Jutsu Kido was going to hit him with, so in a desperate act, he used chakra strings and pulled the torso of Suzume in front of his own to shield some of the damage. Once Kido's fist made contact with Suzume's torso, the wooden frame was destroyed and Shio took the brunt of the attack and was thrown back into the wall as it left a small crater with several spiderweb cracks in it. Kushina checked on Shio and called the medics.

"Winner: Kido Kagayaki!"

Several cheers were heard from his teammates and friends as he jumped in the air and triumphantly pumped his fist.

Chitose, Hotaka, and Tenzo jumped down to congratulate him, while Mai stood on the balcony, smiling and waving at Kido who waved back with a smile of his own.

"Dude! That. Was. Awesome! You took it to that puppeteer! And that Jutsu! Crazy bro!" Hotaka shouted.

"Yeah thanks bro!"

"Congratulations Kido! If you show that off to the judges, you're a shoo in for Chuunin!" Tenzo said as he looked over his shoulder at Chitose with confusion when he saw her with a mischievous smile on her face.

"Pucker up Kido-kun." Chitose said seductively as she spun Kido around and planted a passion filled lip lock. Kido was surprised by the kiss, but didn't break it off. A shutter bulb went off in front of them and the cameraman laughed.

"Ah young love!"

Mai saw the kiss from afar and was heartbroken. Hotaka was surprised, Tenzo was shocked, and the rest of the arena Genin except Goken were either swooning or cheering.

"Everyone calm down! May I have your attention! I need all of the finalists to come down here so I can explain the lineup and rules for the final phase."

Once everyone was standing in front of Kushina and the Konoha higher ups, she began the explanation.

"All right. The matchups with be determined by selecting a number from this box. Pick one number and say it aloud when I call your number out."

The box was passed around in a random order and made its way back to Kushina when everyone had a number.

"Okay, let's begin. Just read off if you have number one and so on until we finish."

"One." Hotaka said.

"Two." Akahiro called out.

"Three." Tenzo spoke.

"Four." Kentaro smirked.

"Five." Kyōza bellowed.

"Six." Tsunami chanted.

"Seven." Mai said, devoid of emotion.

"Eight." Chitose hummed sweetly.

"Nine." Hiroki relayed.

"Ten." Kido read out happily.

"Eleven." Denki yawned.

"Twelve." Zuri grunted out.

"Thirteen." Yashamaru responded politely.

"Fourteen." Goken replied emotionlessly.

"Fifteen." Shibuki said nervously.

After she wrote all the names on the bracket sheet she had in her hands she announced the matchups.

"Okay. The matchups for the Chuunin Selection Exam Finals arenas follows." Kushina said as she cleared her throat.

"Match one is Hotaka Tokuichi vs Akahiro Fujiwara. Match two is Tenzo Yamamoto vs Kentaro Uchiha. Match three is Kyōza of Kumogakure vs Tsunami Usagi. Match four is Mai Kurosawa vs Chitose Shimura. Match five Hiroki Ishiyama vs Kido Kagayaki. Match six is Denki of Kumogakure vs Zuri of Amegakure. Match seven is Yashamaru Sabaku vs Goken of Sunagakure. Lastly, since there is no match eight, Shibuki of Takigakure will fight whoever wins between Yashamaru and Goken. That's all for the matchups. The rules are pretty much the same as the Preliminaries, except killing is allowed. If you feel like you're going to die, surrender and I'll stop the match. You'll be given a month to train and study to beat your opponent." She said as her eyes swept over the Genin finalists before continuing on.

"Remember, in the Finals phase, you will be judged by the Hokage, Raikage, Takikage, Kazekage, and very important dignitaries from many different lands who will want to see your skills and use that to offer your respective villages mission contracts or trade deals. You are representing your country, so be aware of that fact as you fight and fight with honor and pride. That is all for now. Today is the last day of the month so training for the Finals begins tomorrow. You have the remainder of the day off to rest. Meet back in the Konoha Stadium in one month at ten in the morning. Be late and you'll be disqualified without hesitation. Do not, I repeat, do not attack your fellow competitors. Doing so WILL result in an immediate ejection from the exams. If there are no are no questions, you are all dismissed." She said as they were shown the exits and vacated the Forest of Death with their Senseis and teammates. The ninja who were hospitalized remained in the Tower's medical wing to be moved to the Konoha Hospital.

 _"This is going to be one hell of an Exam!"_ Naruto thought to himself.

"Guys, Ichiraku Ramen is on me!" Naruto exclaimed.

 **So the Preleminaries are over and something is heating up! How will Mai deal with what happened after Kido's match? Who will become a Chuunin? Will Daiskue recover? Find out next time on DragonBall Z! Hahaha just kidding, but stay tuned for the next chapter. It'll be more relationship building and some training for the next phase of the exams. After the exam arc, it'll get even more exciting! As always, leave a review or a PM in my inbox and once more I just want to give a shoutout to KingKakashi for his great storytelling and writing. He's a Fantastic writer and someone worth reading. Until next time guys!**


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